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THE 



FOUNDATIONS OF HISTORY, 



A SERIES OF 



FIRST THINGS. 



BT 

SAMUEL B. SCHIEFFELIN. 



"BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OP THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JESUS CHRIST niM- 
8ELP BEING THE CHIEF CORNER STONE." EPn. II. 20. 



v 

NEW YORK : 

ANSON D. P . RANDOLPH, 

No. 683 BROADWAY. 

1863. 







THE LIBRARY] 
OF C ONG RESS fj 

Washington!' 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S63, by 

SAMUEL B. RGIIIEFFELIN, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of 

New York. 



Z3 i i 



EDWARD O. JENKINS, 

STEREOTYPER & PRINTER, 

No. 20 North William Street. 



PREFACE. 

THE Board of Publication of the Reformed Dutch 
Church have recently commenced publishing a series of 
Christian School Books, designed to restore Christianity to its 
proper place in Education. The first books of that series, the 
Primer and Readers, expressly prepared by able men whose 
hearts were interested in the subject, have already been issued. 
The plan of the series embraced, among other works, a His- 
tory of the World, on Christian Principles. Not finding a 
suitable person willing to prepare such a History as was 
needed, the writer was led to commit to paper some founda- 
tion thoughts, which he wished to be brought out prominently 
in it. His desire was that the student of history might 
learn, that the Creator had a purpose in view when he cre- 
ated the world : that the history of the world, in connection 
with divine revelation, is a development of that purpose : 
that everything that happens, from the minutest providence 
to the overthrow of empires, is subservient to that purpose, 
and is part of it : and that all inventions, and all knowledge 
imparted to man, are for the same end : and that is, the reve- 
lation of Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ ; and the mani- 
festation of His glory through His church. 

These foundation thoughts, connecting the first facts in 
History with all the subsequent history of the world, and 

with the world to come, have necessarily been extended. 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

The work was commenced as a History of the World, in 
chronological order, from the creation to the deluge. Dur- 
ing its progress the plan was changed, so as to make it a 
Series of First Things in History to the Christian era. 

In what he has written, the thoughts and writings of others 
have been freely culled from and used. "The Universal 
History on Scriptural Principles," by Bagster & Sons, has 
rendered aid. Bagster's Comprehensive Bible, with the 
authorized various readings, marginal notes, parallel pas- 
sages, etc., etc., he has found not only useful for this work, 
but also for many years an invaluable assistant in studying 
the Holy Scriptures. In the preparation of some of the 
later chapters he was assisted by Bishop Meade's learned 
and interesting work, entitled " The Bible and the Classics." 
Other acknowledgments will be found in the body of the 
work. 

His hope is yet, that some sanctified heart and able head 
may furnish a history of the world, in small form, for schools 
and for general reading, which may benefit the reader by 
giving glory to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

Neio York, May, 1863. g. B. S. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER 1 

PAGE 
INTRODUCTORY, 1 

CHAPTER II. 

FIRST HISTORIES OF THE WORLD — 'FIRST HISTORIANS FIRST POPULAR 

LECTURERS, ........... 5 

CHAPTER III. 

FIRST WRITING FIRST WRITING MATERIALS, ...... 8 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD APPEARANCES AND MANIFESTATIONS OF THE 

CREATOR, ........... 13 

CHAPTER V. 

WHY THE WORLD WAS CREATED, . . . . . . . .17 

CHAPTER VI. 

CREATION THE AGE OF THE WORLD, ....... 19 

CHAPTER VH. 

ANGELS, . 21 

CHAPTER Vni. 

THE GARDEN OF EDEN, OR THE FIRST ABODE, ..... 25 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIRST MAN THE FIRST WOMAN, ....... 27 

CHAPTER X. 

THE FIRST MARRIAGE, . . 32 

(v) 



VI CO N TENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XL 

THE FIRST LANGUAGE. 36 

CHAPTER XII. 

FIRST WORK — FIRST SABBATH FIRST FOOD, .39 

CHAPTER XHI. 

THE DEVIL DEMONS — FAMILIAR SPIRITS, ...... 44 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE FIRST SIN THE FALL THE FIRST EFFECTS OF SIN THE FIRST GOSPEL 

CALL, 50 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE FIRST PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR FIRST EFFECTS OF TILE CURSE FIRST 

CLOTHING EXPULSION FROM EDEN, . . . . . . .53 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FIRST CHILD FIRST SACRIFICE FIRST DEATH, . . , .57 

CHAPTER XVII. 

FIRST PERSECUTION FIRST MARTYR FIRST MURDER — BURIALS FIRST 

DEATH PENALTY, 62 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

CAIN — FIRST CITY POWER OF THE SEED OF THE SERPENT FIRST POLY- 
GAMY, 65 

CHAPTER XIX. 

FIRST INVENTIONS FIRST MUSICIANS FIRST ARTIFICERS EARLY KNOWL- 
EDGE OF THE ARTS, ......... 68 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE CHURCH ITS PRESERVATION A CONSTANT MIRACLE, . . . .76 

CHAPTER XXI. 

FIRST GATHERING OF THE CHURCH — VISIBLE CHURCH, CHILDREN AND SLAVES, 

MEMBERS — FIRST PUBLIC WORSHIP FIRST REVIVAL OF RELIGION 

FIRST PRAYER MEETING, . ..... .81 



CONTENTS. vii 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XXII. 

FIRST CONSECRATION OF PROPERTY FIRST PROPHETS — FIRST TRANSLATION 

OF THE BODY FIRST PREACHERS, ....... 85 

CHAPTEE XXIII. 

FIRST LENGTH OF HUMAN LIFE INCREASE OF POPULATION AND DECREASE 

OF THE CHURCH MIXED MARRIAGES FIRST GIANTS — G GANTIC ANIMALS, 89 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE FIRST VESSEL FIEST DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD THE DELUGE — 

THE CRADLE OF THE WORLD AND OF THE CHURCH, . . .94 

CHAPTER XXV. 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, BEFORE THE FLOOD, ...... 98 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

FIRST THING DONE AFTER THE FLOOD FLESH FIRST GIVEN FOR FOOD — 

FIRST OCCUPATION FIRST DRUNKENNESS, ..... 100 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

FIRST GOVERNMENT FIRST DESPOTISM FIRST SLAVERY FIRST SLAVE- 
HOLDER DIVINE INJUNCTIONS TO MASTERS, SLAVES AND SUBJECTS 

THE FOUNDATIONS OF FREEDOM, . . . . . . .103 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

DESCENDANTS OF HAM FIRST KINGDOMS NIMROD — FIRST CITY AND FIRST 

BUILDING AFTER THE FLOOD BABEL OR BABYLON FIRST ASTRONOMI- 
CAL OBSERVATIONS, . . . . . . . . .113 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

NINEVEH THE ASSYRIANS SEMIRAMIS, . . . . . . .120 

CHAPTER XXX. 

EG yp T ITS EARLY PROSPERITY ITS ABASEMENT HIEROGLYPHICS SE- 

SOSTRIS, . - . . . • • • • .127 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

OTHER DESCENDANTS OF HAM THE CANAANITES SIDON AND TYRE THE 

PHILISTINES AMALEKITES AFRICANS 135 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

JAPHET AND HIS DESCENDANTS, 140 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

SHEM AND HIS DESCENDANTS, 143 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH— FIRST PROCLAMA- 
TION OF THE GOSPEL THE JEWS ISHMAELITES ESAU, . . . 145 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

FAITH FIRST FALSE RELIGIONS FIRST IDOLATRY FIRST WORSHIPPING OF 

IMAGES ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY INFIDELITY, ..... 149 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

ANCIENT TRADITIONS CREATION CHAOS SABBATH GARDEN OF EDEN 

MAN, ONE FAMILY EARLY GOLDEN AGE DETERIORATION OF THE RACE 

THE FALL SATAN THE SERPENT THE DELUGE MOUNTAINS 

CHERUBIMS TOWER OF BABEL EARLY GIANTS END OF THE WORLD 

AFRICAN TRADITIONS, 160 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

DOCTRINAL TRUTHS RETAINED AMONG THE HEATHEN ONE GOD THE TRINITY 

THE WORD OF GOD, THE CREATOR GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH THE 

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL — GHOSTS AN ATONING SACRIFICE, . . 170 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE ANCIENT ORACLES THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS, . . . . .179 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES FREEMASONS, . . . . . .186 

CHAPTER XL. 

FIRST HEATHEN POETS HOMER EESIOD, . . . . . .190 

CHAPTER XLI. 

FHIST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS THALES PYTOAGORAS SOCRATES PLATO 

ARISTOTLE ZOROASTER LAOU TZE CONFUCIUS, . . . .195 



CONTENTS. iX 

PAGK 

CHAPTER XLII. 

FIRST THEATRES FIRST ACTORS — FIRST TRAGEDIES, ..... 206 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

FIRST MONET ANCIENT COINS, 211 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

TYPES AND SYMBOLS IN CREATION, HISTORY AND REDEMPTION, . . . 224 

CHAPTER XLV. 

ANALOGIES IN CREATION AND THE COURSE OF NATURE TO REVEALED RE- 
LIGION, 283 

CHAPTER XL VI. 

NEW MANIFESTATION OF GOD — THE GREATEST EVENT IN HISTORY THE MOST 

WONDERFUL BEING, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD AND THE 
SON OF MAN FOUNDATION OF A NEW UNIVERSAL KINGDOM, . . 239 

CHAPTER XLVII. 

THE NEW KINGDOM ITS WONDERFUL PROGRESS, ..... 24*7 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

THE HOLY GHOST THE UNPARDONABLE SIN, ...... 250 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

FIRST THINGS IN THE VISIBLE CHURCH UNDER THE NEW DISPENSATION IN- 
TRODUCTION OF MEMBERS CHILDREN AND HOUSEHOLDS, MEMBERS THE 

LORD'S SUPPER MODE OF BAPTISM NEW SABBATH FIRST FOREIGN 

MISSIONS NEW WAY TO GOD NEW PRIESTS CHURCHES FIRST SAVED 

— FIRST ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN CONCLUSION, ..... 256 



INDEX TO PLATES. 



Egyptians moving a colossus, .... Facing Title-page 
^ | PLAYING ON the haep. From a Painting found in a Tomb at Thebes, 

^ EGYPTIAN ENTERTAINMENT, . . . 



V 



EXTINCT ANIMALS, 



-J 



i FRONT OF THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ABOO-SIMBEL, NUBIA, 
| ASSYRIANS MOVING A HUMAN-HEADED BULL, . 
/ ASSYRIAN KING SUPERINTENDING THE REMOVAL OF A COLOSSAL BULL, 
\ HEAD OF THE GREAT SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH, EGYPT, 
' CENTRAL AVENUE OF THE GREAT HALL OF COLUMNS, KARNAK, THEBES, 
V^RUINS OF PETRA, IDUMEA OR EDOM, 
"* ANCIENT COINS SARDIS, .... 

" JEGINA, .... 

" PERSIAN DARICS, . 

" PHILIP II. OF MACEDONIA, 

" ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 

" SYRACUSE, .... 

" BYZANTINE MICHAL DUCAS, 

" TARENTUM, IllCllSed, 

" TITUS — CONQUEST OF JUDEA, 

" MILETUS, .... 

" JEWISH SHEKEL, . 

" PTOLEMAIC COPPER, 

ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA, . 

" ROMAN JES, 

" ROMAN FAMILY TITURIA RAPE OF 

" EMILIA, . . ... 

" TIBERIUS CAESAR, 

" NERO, .... 

" EARLY GAULISH AND BRITISH, 

ANCIENT METHOD OF WEIGHING MONEY, 



TYPES IN CREATION, 



THE 



SABINES, 



-73 
-73 
92 
113 
120 
124 
127 
129 
148 
211 
211 
211 
211 
211 
211 
211 
211 
212 
216 
218 
218 
218 
219 
220 
220 
220 
220 
221 
214 
224 



Note. — Several of the above are introduced, without being particularly described, to 
illustrate some of the colossal works of the ancients. 

The colored plates are taken from Roberts' splendid work, " The Holy Land, Idumea, 
Egypt," etc. 



(*) 



THE 



FOUNDATIONS OF HISTORY, 



A SERTES OF 



FIRST THINGS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

IN looking at a history of the world in a small compass, 
we may well exclaim, A history of the world, in two or 
three small volumes ! The world ! composed of vast empires 
and of many nations ; why the history of the decline of a 
single empire has filled many volumes ! The world ! having 
twelve hundred millions of inhabitants, and having had a 
hundred generations of hundreds of millions of people ! 
Many volumes have been written on the life of one man. 
Enough books have been written on the world's history to 
make a large library. 1 A full history of the world in all 
its bearings we shall have time to read only in eternity. It 
is all recorded. John says, "I saw the dead, small and 
great, stand before God : and the books were opened : and 
the dead were judged out of those things which were written 
in the books, according to their works." 2 

In such a history, therefore, we can do little more than 
take a bird's-eye view of the world : soaring over it as if in 
a balloon, seeing plainly the great nations, and the great 
men, which rise up, here and there, like the mountain-tops ; 
dipping occasionally down to the valleys ; catching a glance 
at the cities ; and now and then at the gatherings of men. 
We shall see the earth covered by a dark, heavy, moral 
cloud, like a funeral pall : through that cloud we shall see 

1 More than half a century ago, Miiller, the Swiss historian, in laying 
the foundation of his Universal History, made extracts from the writings 
of one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three authors of ancient and 
modern times. 2 Rev. xx. 12. 

(1) 



2 FIRST THINGS. 

the beams of the Sun of Eighteousness breaking, growing 
brighter and brighter, and carrying life to all nations. We 
shall hear an almost universal wail of woe, which has been 
going up continually for six thousand years from the earth's 
inhabitants. But gradually rising above this, we shall hear 
shouts of praise, growing louder and louder, as the " good 
tidings of great joy, to all people, that a Saviour is born, 
which is Christ the Lord," are spread through the earth. 

As we soar through six thousand years, we shall see the 
lights and shadows of a beautiful picture both in nature and 
morals. While studying it, shall we forget the Great Painter 
and Architect ? Him " who hath measured the waters in the 
hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, 
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 
weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. 
That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth 
them out as a tent to dwell in : that bringeth the princes to 
nothing. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath 
created these things." l 

In looking into the history of man and of nations, we be- 
hold a vast and complicated machinery in continued motion ; 
and the more we look into it, the more wonderful do we find 
it in all its parts. Its movements are beyond our compre- 
hension. Who made it ? Why was it made ? Is it left to 
regulate itself ? Suppose we were looking at an immense 
piece of mechanism, made with admirable finish ; its parts 
fitting together, and moving with a velocity and a power 
which, if uncontrolled, would carry destruction to itself and 
to every thing near it. Could we believe it made itself ? 
Could we believe that it moved without having power com- 
municated to it? Could we believe that the Maker had no 
purpose in vieiv when he made it ? Let us endeavor, then, in 
studying the history of the world, to learn why it was 
made ; for we have a personal interest in knowing why. 

1 Isaiah xl. 12, 22, 26. 



INTRODUCTORY. 3 

Our bird's-eye view, taking in the whole at a glance, will 
enable us to see everywhere the controlling hand of God ; 
and his providence, like a golden thread, running through 
all time, and interwoven in all the affairs of man. Let us 
follow that thread, or else we shall be lost in a labyrinth. 

And here, to help us on our journey, let us take a hint 
from an old negro, known as " The African preacher," x 
formerly a slave in Virginia. The old African, while ex- 
ceedingly humble and respectful, was jealous of his heavenly 
Master's glory, and answered scoffers accordingly. An in- 
dividual of large fortune, who was accustomed to treat the 
subject of religion rather sportively, and who at the same 
time prided himself on his morality,, said to him, " I think, 
old man, I am as good as need be. I can't help thinking so, 
because God blesses me as much as he does you Christians, 
and I don't know what more I want than he gives me ; and 
yet I never disturb myself about preaching or praying." 
To this the old preacher replied with great seriousness : 
" Just so with the hogs. I have often seen them rooting 
among the leaves in the woods, and finding just as many 
acorns as they needed, and yet I never saw one of them 
look up to the tree from which the acorns fell." As we 
journey through the world's history, let us not think too 
much of the acorns ; nor have our attention taken up too 
much with the noisy, quarrelsome hogs, or those that have 
gathered the most acorns ; such as Alexander the Great, 
Croesus, or Caesar. 

They are not the really great, whose influence and empires 
perish with their own short lives. The real conquerors of 
the world are those heroes of the Lord's hosts, who, although 
they have been dead thousands of years, are still assisting, 
by their example and writings, to extend the empire of the 
King of kings, with a power and influence which will be 
extending and increasing till the end of time. 

1 The African Preacher. Presbyterian Board of Publication. 



4 FIRST THINGS. 

Let us seek, therefore, first to become acquainted with the 
Creator of the world, and he will give us the key to open 
its history ; and also enable us to look at it with the eye of 
Him who controls it. Let us learn from Him why He made 
the world, and what is to be the end of it ; we shall then 
the more readily understand its history, and shall be better 
prepared to fill the place which we must each occupy in that 
history. 



CHAPTER II. 

FIEST HISTOEIES OP THE WORLD — FIRST HISTORIANS — FIRST 
POPULAR LECTURERS. 

BEFORE entering on our journey, let us examine the 
guide-books we have to direct us in our course. As 
regards creation, and the history of the world for the first 
thirty-five hundred years of its existence, the only reliable 
account that we have is that given by G-od himself, and con- 
tained in the Holy Scriptures. That history, written for the 
benefit of the people of God, is almost exclusively a history 
of the Church. As the Church, however, is in the world, 
and has always been in conflict with it, we find in that his- 
tory accounts of persons and nations outside of the Church. 

It is true those accounts are few and far between ; but 
we have the satisfaction of knowing that they are true : 
while most of the later histories written by man are doubt- 
ful, and many are false. And we may be sure, that as much 
of the early history of the world has been revealed to us as 
is for our good. The old world became so exceedingly sin- 
ful, that we may almost say the less we know about it the 
better. 

So far as we can learn, the world was twenty-five centu- 
ries without any written history. Moses, the first historian, 
wrote about B. C. 1500. From that time to about B. C. 445, 
the divinely inspired writers of the Bible are the only his- 
torians. There was not much need of written histories when 
men lived nearly a thousand years. It only required three 
or four persons to carry history, by word of mouth, from 

(5) 



6 FIRST THIN G S . 

Adam to Moses. That method of instruction, from father to 
son, is often referred to in the Bible. 

" Remember the days of old, 
Consider the years of many generations : 
Ask thy father, and he will shew thee ; 
Thy elders, and they will teach thee." 

Deut. xxxii. 7. 
•' Tell ye your children of it, 
And let your children tell their children, 
And their children another generation." 
Joel i. 3. 

The Old Testament history ends with the books of Ezra 
and Nehemiah. The last of the Old Testament Books was 
written B. C. 445. The same year, the first authentic his- 
tory written by any of the world's historians, viz., by Hero- 
dotus, is said to have been made public. 

Herodotus of Halicarnassus is not only the first, but is the 
prince of heathen historians. His history is divided into 
nine books, called by the names of the muses. It was com- 
piled while traveling through the then civilized world ; and 
though it contains many marvelous and incredible stories, 
gathered from among the nations he visited, it still holds 
a high place among scholars, not only for the information 
it imparts, but for the beauty of its style, fascinating variety, 
and its noble simplicity. 

The first heathen poets, and historians, were the first 
popular lecturers in the world. Herodotus read his his- 
tory, referring principally to the wars carried on between 
Europe and Asia, before an assembly of the people gathered 
at Athens at the festival of their tutelar goddess. While 
reciting his history, Herodotus observed a young man who 
betrayed marks of strong emotion : struck with his intelli- 
gent aspect, he advised the father of the young man to give 
him the education of a philosopher. The name of this youth 
was Tkucydides. He became the second of the heathen 



FIRST HISTORIES OF THE WORLD. 7 

historians. His history, though comprising a short period 
only, displays such profound thought, such .knowledge of 
men and of States, such majestic eloquence, and so noble a 
style, that as an historian and orator, Thucydides has re- 
tained a place among the most illustrious. 

Herodotus represented the gods as so jealous of man's 
happiness, that if they favored any mortal, they did so only 
to render his fall more calamitous. Thucydides, like many 
of the present day who would feel affronted to be called 
heathen, would not allow that the gods interfered in human 
affairs, either for good or evil ; making man's prosperity or 
adversity depend entirely upon himself. 

It is well here to notice the difference between the inspired 
historians and those merely human, as regards the end they 
each had in view. The word of God says : 

" All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc- 
trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the 
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." ' 

Herodotus, the first of the world's historians, says : 

" To rescue from oblivion the memory of former incidents, and to render 
a just tribute of renown to the many great and wonderful actions of Greeks 
and barbarians, Herodotus of Halicarnassns writes this historical essay." 

Thus taught, that human history glorifies man, whilst the 
divine corrects and instructs man, and glorifies God; let 
us endeavor to bear the objects of the writers in mind, as 
we cull from their histories : so that what we gather may 
profit us and give glory to Him to whom it is due. 

1 2 Tim. iii. 16, 11. 



CHAPTER III. 

PIEST WRITING — FIRST WRITING-MATERIALS. 

IT will be interesting now to examine into the origin and 
the progress of the art of writing ; which, next to speak- 
ing, influences the world. The writings of Moses are by 
far the most ancient of which we have any knowledge. In 
the book of Job, supposed to have been written by Moses, 
we read of Job's exclaiming : " Oh that my words were now 
written ! Oh that they were imprinted in a book ! That 
they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for 
ever!" 1 Job evidently had some idea of writing, although 
the word "written" might be rendered drawn, and the 
word " book" may signify any memorial in writing. Ex- 
cepting this, no reference is made to writing prior to the 
time of Moses. We notice that the transfers of property 
before his day, instead of being made by written deeds 
placed on town records, were made by verbal acknowledg- 
ment before witnesses ; as in the case of the purchase of 
the field and cave of Machpelah by Abraham ; 2 and we also 
find, that when Abraham sent to his relatives for a wife for 
his son, he did not write. Some think that the first writing 
was the Ten Commandmeuts, written on stone by the finger 
of God. We know, however, that the earliest writing in 
the world was given by inspiration of Him who "giveth 
knowledge to man ;" and also, that it was in the Hebrew 
letter and language. 

From the Hebrew alphabet came the Phoenician ; from that 
the Greek ; the Greek letters being evidently the Phoenician 

1 Job xix. 23, 24. a Gen. xxiii. 17. 

(8) 



FIEST WRITING-MATERIALS. V 

turned from right to left ; thence came the Roman ; and from 
them, the letters now in use among civilized nations. 



ROMAN. 


GREEK. 


HEBREW. 


A 


A alpha 


j^ aleph 


B 


B beta 


^ beth 


C 


r gamma 


^ girnmel 


D etc. 


A delta, etc. 


-j daleth, etc 



When the Jews under Joshua, with the writings of Moses 
in their hands, were driving out the Phoenician tribes, some 
of these sought refuge in distant colonies. It was at this 
time that Cadmus, a Phoenician, miscalled the " father of let- 
ters," introduced the use of them, under new forms, into 
Greece. Giving the Grecians an alphabet, he not only laid 
the foundation of that literature which is the admiration of 
scholars to this day, but he also furnished a written lan- 
guage which will be always memorable ; as that in which the 
New Testament was originally written. 

The peaceful reign of Solomon, and his reputed wisdom, 
drew persons from all parts of the world to learn of him. 
The knowledge of letters, and some ideas of the true God, 
were thus extended to other countries. 1 

The use of signs would naturally be adopted by barbarous 
nations, from seeing letters which they could not understand 
used by the more civilized ; and also from traditional ideas 
of writing, which their fathers might have lost in wandering 
from the light of truth into the darkness and degradation of 
heathenism. 

The ancient Hebrew characters differed somewhat from 
those now used in writing that language. Time also intro- 
duced changes in the ancient Greek letters. These changes 
would naturally occur before printing was known, as men 
never speak or write exactly alike. The first writings were 
from right to left. The Hebrew is yet written in that way. 

1 1 Kings iv, 3-1. 



10 FIRST THINGS. 

The Greeks, deriving letters from the Phoenicians, also 
originally wrote like them from right to left. The change 
appears to have been brought about by making alternate 
lines follow each other : the first line from right to left, and 
the second from left to right, and so on. This they called 
writing as oxen plow. The laws of Solon were written in 
this way. 

The old Hebrew characters were written in this manner : l 

The old Phoenician, according to Scaliger, were written 
thus : 

^taMS^H¥3AT9N 

And the Greek, according to the most ancient specimen, 
were written thus : 

These were probably the first letters of the Greek alpha- 
bet, which were originally sixteen only. The following, 
which are found in the ancient Sigean inscription, were 
afterward added : 

F X © Y9 + 

/ C * v <? x 

Job speaks of writing on stone. That material God used 
when writing the Ten Commandments. Brass, lead, and 

1 Shuckford's Connection of Sacred and Profane History. 



FIRST W R I T I N (J - M A T E R I A L S . 11 

other metals in time came into use ; then ivory and wood ; 
and afterward, the wooden tablet was spread over with wax, 
which by being exposed to heat -could be used again and 
again. The prepared skins of animals were used at an early 
period ; and the word shins was used by the lonians to de- 
note books, long after they obtained a better material. In- 
stead of making* bound volumes, they first wrote their suc- 
cessive pages, if we may so call them, on one long scroll ; 
which was unrolled as read. 

The better material discovered was papyrus, a part of an 
Egyptian water plant, which the Greeks called byblus. We 
take our word bible from the Greek biblos, which they used 
to signify book, after adopting the byblus plant for book- 
making. 

The Papyrus plant threw up stalks from eight to sixteen 
feet high, and from two to four inches thick, with foliage at the 
top. The pith of the stalk was cut in very thin slices, which 
were laid side by side, slightly overlapping each other ; these 
were moistened with gum- water, and another layer of strips 
was laid across them. Both layers were then pressed, dried, 
and polished. From the papyrus comes our word paper. 

In the third century before Christ, it happened that dif- 
ferences having arisen between the king of Pergamos and 
the king of Egypt, the latter cut off the supply of papyrus 
from Pergamos. This brought out the invention of what was 
called pergamena, and is now known as parchment. Paul 
desires Timothy to bring him the books which he left at 
Troas, " but especially the parchtnents." 1 Parchment was an 
invention made known to men when the word of God was 
about to be scattered throughout the world by the translation 
called the Septuagint, and under the Gospel dispensation ; 
and when a more durable material was needed to preserve 
that word during the dark ages. 

1 2 Tim. iv. 13. 



12 FIRST THINGS. 

We are reminded from the familiar expression of the leaves 
of books, that our ancestors wrote on leaves. Before the 
introduction of papyrus, the ancient Romans used the inner 
bark of trees ; so that liber, bark, became the Latin word for 
book ; and thence comes our word library, meaning a col- 
lection of books. Our Saxon forefathers wrote on the bark 
of the bocco, their name for beech-tree ; and from that we 
have our word book. 

Pencils or brushes were made from the branches forming 
the crown of the Papyrus plant, by sharpening them. The 
Romans called the sharp-pointed instrument with which they 
wrote on tablets, etc., a stylus. Julius Csesar was using one 
of them when he was attacked by his assassins, and trying 
to defend himself with it, wounded one of his assailants badly. 
The word translated pen, Psalm xlv. 1, probably meant a 
reed, which is the rendering in the Greek and Latin versions. 
Our word pen is derived from the Latin penna, a feather. 
The root of the Hebrew word translated ink, Jer. xxxvi. 18, 
makes it appear that it was a black fluid that was then used. 
In the days of the Apostles ink was common. 

Remembering that writing originally came to us by inspira- 
tion, and probably by direct revelation from God, how careful 
we should be to use it for His glory. If words spoken never 
die, but are brought up again at the judgment of the last 
day, how much more shall words written ! 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD — APPEARANCES AND MANIFES- 
TATIONS OF THE CREATOR. 

WHEN we are asked, Who made you ? how readily we 
answer, God. What else did God make? All 
things. We answer thus, because we have been taught. 
How can a thing tell who made it, and what it was made for, 
unless the Creator should tell it ? If God had not revealed 
it to us in his word, we should have been as wise as the 
heathen philosophers, who taught that matter was eternal ; or 
as the Hindoos, who represent that the earth is sustained 
upon the heads of elephants, who, when they shake them- 
selves, cause earthquakes. In this respect the veriest child, 
knowing the first chapter of the Bible, is wiser than all the 
heathen. He learns more in ten minutes than they, with all 
their philosophers, have learned in five thousand years. 

How short the account is in that chapter ; and yet, how 
grand ! Were there ever sublimer words than, " God said, 
Let there be light : and there was light ?' n They are only 
equaled by the words of Him, " who being in the form of 
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." 2 Hear 
him say to the leper, " I will ; be thou clean ;" 3 and to a 
buried corpse : " Lazarus, come forth." 4 Hear him rebuke 
a great storm of wind, and say unto the sea, " Peace, be still. 
And the wind ceasod, and there was a great calm." 5 And 
hear those most wonderful words ! " Thy sins are forgiven." 6 

1 Genesis i. 3. 3 Matt. viii. 3. 5 Mark iv. 39. 

2 Philip, ii. 6. * John xi. 43. fi Luke vii. 48 ; Matt. ix. 2. 

(13) 



14 FIRST THINGS. 

Who but God can speak such words ? Thanks be unto God ! 
for the revelations He has made unto us. He " spake in time 
past unto the fathers by the prophets ; and in these last days 
hath spoken unto us by his Son." 1 

The first sentence which God has given to us in his history 
of creation, contains a peculiar revelation of God himself, 
which has a bearing upon all the succeeding history of the 
world : that is, the revelation of the plurality of the persons 
in the Godhead. This great truth was only gradually re- 
vealed to man. It was thus, as we shall hereafter see, with 
the promises of a coining Messiah, and of the plan of redemp- 
tion. Revelation was gradual and progressive, as is the light 
of the natural day : there was twilight, and a dawn, before 
the full light came. "We read, " In the beginning God cre- 
ated the heaven and the earth." 2 In the original it reads 
" Gods," in the plural number ; while the verb " created" is in 
the singular ; thus indicating a plurality of persons in one. 

The plural noun is thus used to indicate the true God, and 
is connected with a verb in the singular number, several 
hundred times in the Scriptures. Trinity in unity, or three 
persons in one God, was fully revealed when " God was man- 
ifest in the flesh ;" 3 and when He sent his disciples " to teach 
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost :" 4 observe, not names, but 
the single name ; for " these three are one." 5 

In other parts of the Bible the different persons of the 
Godhead are said to have taken part in the creation of the 
world, and to be now directing its affairs. It is well to 
note this as we go on, that we may better understand why 
the world was created ; and also better understand its his- 
tory. 

The Bible in speaking of creation says, " The SPIRIT of 
God moved upon the face of the waters." 6 " By his SPIRIT 

1 Heb. i. 1. 3 1 Tim. iii. 16. 5 1 John v. 7. 

2 Gen. i. 1. 4 Matt, xxviii. 19. 6 Genesis i. 2. 



THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD. 15 

he hath garnished the heavens." 1 And again, " The SPIRIT 
of God hath made me.' 72 It also speaks in many places of the 
Lord Jesus Christ as the Creator ; so that " all should honor 
the Son, even as they honor the Father." 3 It says, " The word 
was God. All things ivere made by him ; and without him 
was not any thing made that was made. The word was made 
flesh and dwelt among us. He was in the world, and the 
world ivas made by him, and the world knew him not." 4 
"Jesus Christ, by luhom are all things, and we by him;" 5 
\for by him ivere all things created, that are in heaven, and 
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be 
thrones, or dominions, or principalities or powers : all things 
were created by him, and for him ; and he is before all things, 
and by him all things consist." 6 

The Creator revealed himself to man immediately after 
his creation ; making known to him His will and showing 
him the way of peace and happiness. 7 And ever since, as a 
father with his children, the Lord has held communion with 
His chosen people ; and while protecting, teaching, and lead- 
ing them to glory, He has not only constantly manifested 
His presence, but He has repeatedly appeared to them : 
sometimes in visions ; 8 sometimes in dreams ; 9 sometimes 
making His presence known by fire ; 10 by an audible voice ; u 
or by a sign, as in the burning bush to Moses, 12 the thunders 
and lightnings on Mount Sinai, 13 and the cloud in the Taber- 
nacle and in the Temple. 14 Sometimes He appeared as a 
man, as He did to Abraham ; talking freely with him, prom- 

1 Job xxvi. 13. 10 Leviticus ix. 24 ; x. 2 ; 1 Kings 

2 Job xxxiii. 4. xviii. 38. 

3 John v. 23. "Exod. xix. 19; 1 Kings xix. 12; 

4 John i. 1, 3, 10, 14. 1 Sam. iii. 4. 
6 1 Cor. viii. 6. 12 Exod. iii. 4. 

6 Col. i. 16-18. 13 Exod. xix. 1 8. 

7 Genii. 16; iii. 8. u Exod. xl. 38; Levit. xvi. 2; 1 

8 Gen. xlvi. 2; Ezek. i. 1. Kings viii. 10, 11. 
8 Gen. xx. 3 ; xxxi. 24 ; 1 King iii. 5. 



16 FIRST THINGS. 

ising blessings and making known His purposes. 1 He lived 
and died as a man on earth in the person of the Lord Jesus 
Christ ; who was " God manifest in the flesh, seen of angels ;" 2 
" who made the worlds ; and who being the brightness of 
God's glory, and the express image of his person, and up- 
holding all things by the word of his power, when he had 
by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of 
the Majesty on high." 3 There, if we are his people, we shall 
see him as He is, and be like him. 4 

All these manifestations of God were through the Lord 
Jesus Christ ; the Mediator between God and man. It was 
He who was with the children of Israel in the wilderness. 5 
" No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, 
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." 6 
Jesus said, " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. 7 

After the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to take pos- 
session of his throne, as Prince and Saviour, God has mani- 
fested himself in the third Person of the adorable Trinity ; 
the Holy Ghost. According to promise, 8 He descended on 
the day of Pentecost. 9 Since that time the Church has en- 
joyed the " communion of the Holy Ghost." 10 Every member 
brought into it is a token of His presence ; for he is " born 
of the Spirit." ll And, as we shall notice hereafter, He is now 
personally present building up that Church which is forming 
the history of the world. 

1 Gen. xvii. 1, 22 ; xviii. 1 ; xxvi. 2. 7 John xiv. 9. 

2 1 Tim. iii. 16. 8 John xiv. 16, 26. 

3 Heb. i. 2, 3. » Acts ii. 4. 

4 1 John iii. 2. »° John xiv. 17 ; Rom. viii. 9 ; 2 Cor. 
6 1 Cor. x. 4, 9. xiii. 14. 

« John i. 18. " John i. 13 ; iii. 8. 



CHAPTER V. 

WHY THE WORLD WAS CREATED. 

WE should never have known in this life why the world 
was made, if God had not revealed it to us. Men 
in all places, where that revelation has not been sent, are like 
the hogs rooting among the acorns. If the hogs could speak, 
and we were to ask them why acorns were made ? they would 
reply, For hogs to eat. And then if we were to ask them 
why hogs were made ? they would answer, To eat the acorns. 
So everywhere man says, The world was made for me, and 
I was made to use the world, and thus enjoy myself. But 
God the Creator says otherwise. Whilst man says, " Soul, 
thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine 
ease, eat, drink, and be merry," God says, " Thou fool, this 
night thy soul shall be required of thee ; then whose shall 
those things be which thou hast provided ?" l 

We turn therefore from man and ask God why the world 
was created, and why with all its wickedness it is continued ? 
We hear from heaven the voice of those who cast their 
crowns before the throne, saying, " Thou art worthy, Lord, 
to receive glory and honor and power : for thou hast created 
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and ivere created." 2 
We hear the injunction to the dwellers on earth, " Whether 
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the 
glory of God." 3 God tells us that He reveals himself in cre- 
ation and in history : " For the invisible things of him from 
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood 
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and 

'Luke xii. 19. 2 Rev. iv. 11. s 1 Cor. x. 31. 

2 (if) 



18 FIRST THINGS. 

Godhead." 1 It was also to show his wisdom and power to 
other worlds ; for through the gospel we understand " the 
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been 
hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ : to the 
intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heav- 
enly places might he known by the church the manifold 
wisdom of God.'' 12 

The history of the world therefore is only the fulfillment 
of God's purposes : even wicked men being sometimes used 
as instruments. This is clearly shown in such cases as His 
permitting the selling of Joseph into slavery by his brethren, 
and His sending the Assyrian king to chastise the Jews. 3 
The crucifixion of our Lord was also a wonderful instance 
of this : " Him being delivered by the determinate counsel 
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked 
hands have crucified and slain." 4 

We need, therefore, as provision for our journey through 
the world's history, the revelation God has made to us of 
Himself, and of his purposes ; we must carry with us his 
promises, his threatenings, and his prophecies ; they are all 
revealed to us in his word ; and as his manifold wisdom is 
to be made known by the church, we must watch the progress 
of the church. We must be careful not to separate that 
which God has joined together : the history of the world 
and the coming of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ 
through his church. 5 

1 Rom. L 20. 2 Eph. iii. 9. 3 Isaiah x. 1. 4 Acts ii. 23. 

6 For a separate " History of the Work of Redemption" the reader is re- 
ferred to Edwards' justly celebrated work with that title. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CREATION — THE AGE OF THE WORLD. 

THE Bible history commences by revealing certain great 
facts, and great truths, which, like immense founda- 
tion stones, underlie and are connected with all the future 
history of the world. The first chapters are thickly studded 
with wonderful facts, which unaided human reason could 
never have found out ; and which can only be received 
by faith : when thus received, they are simple and clear. 
" Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed 
by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not 
made of things which do appear.' 7 1 

The doctrine that all things were created by one Eternal 
God is peculiar to the Bible ; it is found nowhere else. It 
places God, as the One All-sufficient Creator, on a height 
infinitely above every other being ; it shows us our entire 
dependence on him, our obligation to live to His glory, and 
the importance of seeking His favor. Let us prayerfully 
study out some of those great foundation facts and truths 
which are found in the first chapters of the Bible. They 
show us the cause of all the crimes, the wars, and all the 
misery that have been in the world since it was made ; and 
also the source of all the happiness, little as it has been, 
which the world has thus far enjoyed. They show us the 
Genesis, or the beginning, of the race of man, of laws, of 
government, and of religion. 

While the great fact of how the world was made is so 
clearly stated, there is a difference of opinion among the 
learned as to the exact time when it was made. This 
can only be learned by adding together the years of the 

1 Hob. xi. 3. 

(19) 



20 FIRST THINGS. 

lives of the patriarchs as recorded in the Bible. The He- 
brew, in which the Bible was first written, differs in the 
number of years from the Greek or Septuagint version, 
when speaking of the birth or death of some of those pa- 
triarchs from the creation to the time of Jacob. The Sep- 
tuagint version, made about 280 years before Christ, was 
in general use in the time of our Saviour ; and its language 
was sometimes, not always, quoted by him and by the apos- 
tles, as our English version is used at the present day. The 
Septuagint version has always been highly esteemed ; and 
some, following the dates given in it, make the world nearly 
5,500 years old before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The time generally received is, according to the computation 
made in the seventeenth century by the learned Archbishop 
Usher, from the Hebrew, that the world was created 4,004 
years before the Christian era. 

In the account of creation we are told very plainly that 
" in six days God created the heavens and the earth :" not 
indefinite eras, or periods of time, but evenings and mornings, 
days. For wise reasons the Creator took that time ; instead 
of speaking all things into being in one instant, which He 
could as easily have done. We are constantly reminded of 
this great fact in the fourth commandment, and by each re- 
turning Sabbath. Let us remember this that we may " avoid 
the oppositions of science, falsely so called." J We must also 
remember that every thing when created was immediately 
complete in itself ; trees, animals, and man, each when made 
were full grown, full size, and perfect. Each also having the 
wonderful faculty of perpetuating its species. 

While describing the progress of creation the record states 
again and again, " God saw that it was good." " God saw 
every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good." 3 
No wonder that at the completion of such a work, " the sons 
of God shouted for joy !' 73 

1 1 Tim. vi. 20. 2 Gen. i. 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31. a Job xxxviii. 7. 



CHAPTER VII 



ANGELS. 



BESIDE the things which are seen, the Bible reveals to 
us that God created a host of unseen beings ; Spirits, 
active, intelligent and holy : and also, that he has been con- 
stantly using these Spirits or, as they are called, Angels, in 
administering the government of the world. These wonder- 
ful beings have often appeared, taking an active part in the 
world's history : and we are told they will continue to do 
so, till that history is closed. An immense host of them 
were created : " An innumerable company." l When the 
angel announced to the shepherds that the Saviour was 
born, a multitude of them was with him praising God, and 
saying/" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good will to men." 2 John says, " I beheld and I heard the 
voice of many angels round about the throne : and the num- 
ber of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thou- 
sands of thousands." 3 

Some of them were allowed to sin, and thus to fall " from 
their first estate;" 4 and as they, also, take a prominent 
part in history, we shall speak of them hereafter. Those, 
kept holy by the power of God, are called " elect angels." 5 

There are different grades or ranks of them ; and they 
are called by different names, as Gabriel, Michael, etc., and 
by various titles, such as, Angel, Archangel, Cherubim, Ser- 
aphim, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, etc. 6 

" Michael, the great prince, which standeth for the people 

1 Heb. xii. 22. = Rev. v. 11. s 1 Tim. v. 21. 

2 Luke, ii. 13. 4 Jude vi. c Col. i. 1 (>. 



22 FIRST THINGS. 

of God," ' is thought to be not a created angel, but our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ ; who is the angel of the covenant. 
The " Angel of the Lord " or the angel Jehovah, is also con- 
sidered to be the same glorious Being ; who took upon him 
the form of a servant ; who came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister. 

The Angels are messengers of God : 

" Before His feet, their armies wait, 

And swift as flames of fire they move, 
To manage His affairs of state, 
In works of vengeance or of love." 

They are also " ministering spirits ; sent forth to minister 
for them who shall be heirs of salvation." 2 As such they 
frequently appear in history. Abraham, when sending his 
servant to get a wife for Isaac, tells him, " The Lord God 
shall send his angel before thee." 3 Two angels were sent 
to deliver Lot out of Sodom. 4 Daniel said, " My God hath 
sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouth, that they have 
not hurt me." 5 Angels ministered to Jesus after his fasting 
and temptation : 6 and an angel strengthened him while in 
his agony in the garden. 7 An angel told Cornelius that his 
prayers were heard, and his alms had in remembrance in the 
sight of God : and directed him to send for Simon Peter, 
that he might learn the way of salvation through faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 8 The angel of the Lord by night opened 
the prison doors, and brought the apostles forth, when shut 
up by the High Priest and those with him : 9 and afterwards 
delivered Peter from prison ; his chains dropping off and the 
iron gate opening of its own accord. 10 Angels ministered 
comfort to the women at the sepulchre of Jesus ; and to the 
apostles when Jesus ascended into heaven. 11 

'Dan. xii. 1. B Dan. vi. 22. ° Acts v. 19. 

2 Heb. i. 14. 6 Matt. iv. 11. 10 Acts xii. 7. 

3 Gen. xxiv. 7. ' T Luke xxii. 43. u Acts i. 10. 

4 Gen. xix. 15. 8 Acts x. 3. 



ANGELS. 23 

They are said to " excel in strength," and to be greater 
"in power and might" 1 than men. They can move with 
wonderful rapidity. At the beginning of one of Daniel's 
prayers, " the commandment came forth ; and Gabriel, 
being caused to fly swiftly, touched Daniel while he was yet 
praying." 2 

If we are the children of God they are continually about 
us ; for to him, who makes the Lord his refuge, the promise 
is, " He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee 
in all thy ways." 3 The Lord Jesus tells us : " The angels 
of the little ones which believe in him, do always behold 
the face of his Father which is in heaven : " 4 and, that when 
Lazarus died, he was carried by the angels into Abraham's 
bosom. 5 The Lord Jesus also said, that when He shall come 
at the end of the world " with great power and glory, then 
shall He send His angels and shall gather together His 
elect." 6 

The angels are said to be deeply interested in what is 
going on in the world : " desiring to look into " 7 the revela- 
tion which God has made of Himself in Christ, and in the 
plan of redemption. " There is joy in the presence of the 
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." 8 Paul says, 
" We are made a spectacle to angels and to men." 9 When 
" God was manifest in the flesh, and justified in the spirit, 
He was seen of angels." 10 " When he bringeth in the first 
begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of 
God worship him." 11 Angels are spoken of as contending 
with the fallen spirits ; " Michael, the archangel, when con- 
tending with the devil disputed about the body of Moses." 12 
In the Revelation we read, " Michael and his angels fought 
against the Devil and his angels." 13 

1 2 Pet. ii. 11. 6 Matt. xxiv. 31: Mark 10 1 Tim. iii. 16. 

a Dan. ix. 21, 23. xiii. 27. ]1 Heb. i. 6. 

3 Ps. xci. 11. T 1 Pet. i. 12. u Jude 9. 

4 Matt, xviii. 6, 10. B Luke xv. 10. 13 Rev. xii. 7, 8. 
6 Luke xvi. 22. 9 1 Cor. iv. 9. 



24 FIRST THINGS. 

Angels have often made themselves visible. Sometimes 
appearing like men ; at other times, as glorious beings having 
great power. They have generally appeared as messengers 
of love and mercy ministering to the people of God ; then 
again, they act as ministers of God's vengeance ; as when they 
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven; 1 
and as when, " the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in 
the camp of the Assyrians an hundred, fourscore and five 
thousand : and behold, they were all dead corpses." 2 And 
also, as when " God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy 
it." " And David saw the angel of the Lord stand between 
the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand 
stretched out over Jerusalem." 3 

If we are heirs of salvation, the ministering of angels will 
form part of our own history. 

1 Gen. xix. 13. 2 2 Kings xix. 35. a 1 Chron. xxi. 15. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE GARDEN OP EDEN, OR THE FIRST ABODE. 

WHO has not had his imagination excited while think- 
ing of the Garden of Eden ? At once we associate 
with it every thing that can please the eye, the ear, and the 
taste. We look back to it with regret, almost feeling that 
we once enjoyed its delights. The name Eden in Hebrew 
means " a delight " — " The Lord God planted a garden and 
out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree 
that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food." A Para- 
dise of delights was prepared for man when he was created 
holy. The word Paradise is from the Greek, and means 
" garden." 

The location of the Garden of Eden is minutely described 
in the Bible. Some of the rivers mentioned as flowing from 
it, the Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates, still bear the 
same name. It is generally supposed to have been located 
near the source of those rivers in the highlands of Armenia, 
in Asia Minor. The curse on the ground for the sin of man, 
causing it to produce thorns and thistles, united perhaps 
with the effects of the flood, has obliterated all traces of the 
exact spot. Some of the districts in that region, however, 
are still celebrated for their fertility and their beauty. There 
was a district known as Eden in the time of Hezekiah. 1 

Many make the same mistake with respect to the Garden 
of Eden, that they do in their views of heaven. The natu- 
ural heart, thinking only of gratifying the senses, pictures to 
itself a place, where it may repose on beds of flowers, enjoy- 
ing their perfume without fear of thorns or noxious insects ; 

1 2 Kings, xix. 12. 



26 FIEST THINGS. 

listening to the music of birds ; seeing the wolf dwelling 
with the lamb and the leopard lying down with the kid ; 
with nothing to molest or make afraid ; and with nothing to 
do but to reach forth the hand and pluck the most delicious 
fruits. They overlook the fact that in Eden there was a 
law to be obeyed, there was labor to be performed, and a 
constant loving communion had with God. Add these, and 
to the natural heart Eden is no longer Paradise, and Heaven 
ceases to be desirable. 

In the midst of the garden grew the tree of life, and the 
tree of knowledge of good and evil. 1 The fruit of the latter 
was forbidden to man. What kind of fruit it bore we know 
not, excepting " that the tree was good for food, and that 
it was pleasant to the eyes." 2 The command made it a 
test of obedience with a fearful penalty attached. Its name 
was probably given to the tree on account of the conse- 
quences connected with the eating of the fruit. The sin 
causing an immediate and a fearful knowledge of evil. 
When the Lord drove out the man, " he placed at the east 
of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword 
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." 3 

In Eden there was free intercourse between man and his 
Creator, speaking as it were face to face. " They heard the 
voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of 
the day." 4 

Another Paradise, where there is fullness of joy and pleas- 
ures forevermore, is prepared for those who are made holy 
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said to the dying 
thief, " This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Be- 
tween these two gardens and closely connected with each, 
another, deeply interesting to us, appears in history : it is 
known as the garden of Gethsemane. 

" Agonizing in the garden, 
Lo ! your Maker prostrate lies ! " 

1 Gen. ii. 9. 2 Gen. iii. 6. s Gen. iii. 24. ' Gen. iii. 8. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIRST MAN — THE FIRST WOMAN. 

THE work of creation was progressive ; on each, of the 
first five days a higher order of beings was succes- 
sively created. The close of the fifth day saw the mighty 
pedestal erected for the great " image " which was to stand 
upon it ; the splendid mansion prepared, with waiting at- 
tendants, for the noble being who was to occupy it. On the 
sixth and last day the greatest wonder, where everything 
was wonderful, appeared. God made man, and creation was 
complete. Even the history of his creation is wonderful. 
God spake ; and inanimate matter came into being. He 
said : " Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving 
creature that hath life and fowl that may fly above the 
earth, and the waters brought them forth : " and again, 
" Let the earth bring forth cattle and creeping things and 
beasts of the earth, and it was so." * But when man was to 
be created, the Trinity are spoken of as taking counsel to- 
gether. " And God said, Let us make man in our image, 
after our likeness." 2 "And the Lord God formed man of 
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life ; and man became a living soul." And from 
a rib taken from the man, woman, as the history says, was 
" builded." " So God created man in his own image." 
Alas ! it was only an image ; soon lost, and man was again 
dust. 

The words formed, builded, as used by the great Creator, 
convey some idea of the wonderful being called man. " The 

1 Gen. i. 20-24. 2 Gen. i. 26. 

' (27) 



28 FIRST THINGS. 

anatomy of man," says Galen, " discovers above six hundred 
muscles, and whoever only considers these, will find that na- 
ture must have, at least, adjusted ten different circumstances, 
in order to attain the end proposed ; so that in the muscles 
alone, above six thousand several views and intentions must 
have been formed and executed." He calculated there are 
two hundred and forty-four bones ; and the distinct pur- 
poses aimed at in their structure to be twelve thousand. 
Then consider the senses of touch, sight, etc. ; and then, the 
structure of the mind of man, capable of directing and con- 
trolling all this machinery, and with powers almost bound- 
less, fitted to subdue the world unto itself. Think also of 
the heart and immortal soul of man, capable of loving, serv- 
ing, and enjoying God, and, alas ! capable of hating Him. 
Consider man ! with the destiny before him of living an ever- 
lasting life ; or of dying an eternal death ! So frail, that an 
atom can cause him agony ; and with but a passing breath be- 
tween him and his eternal state of happiness or woe ! Well 
may we, with the Psalmist, exclaim, " I am fearfully and 
wonderfully made ! " 

Man was called Adam, that is, red earth, either from the 
clay, from which he was formed, or from his ruddy appear- 
ance or flesh tint. " Adam called his wife's name Eve, that 
is, living, because she was the mother of all living." 1 A fact 
worthy of remembrance ; as we are apt to forget, through 
pride and the difference which sin, food, and climate have 
produced in the human family, that " God hath made of one 
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the 
earth." 2 

Infidels, denying God's history of creation and of the Fall, 
and rejecting his plan of salvation, try to make it appear that 
our first parents were only full grown infants. To carry out 
their idea that man is his own saviour, they teach that the 
savages of the earth ever have been, and still are, in a state 

1 Gen. iii. 20. 2 Acts xvii. 26. 



THE FIRST MAN. 29 

nearest the natural and original one of man ; and also that 
all civilized nations have become so by their own power of 
improvement. If such had been the case, man would have 
been the only imperfect being created : he would have been 
inferior to the animals, whose natural instincts have been 
perfect from the first. History, as well as the word of God, 
shows this theory of the infidel to^be false. No individual 
or tribe which was once in a savage state has ever risen 
from that to a civilized state without having had civilization 
brought to them. 

The famous historian Niebuhr has recorded his full con- 
viction, " that all savages are the degenerate remnants of 
more civilized races, which had been overpowered by ene- 
mies and driven to take refuge in the woods, there to wander 
seeking a precarious existence, till they had forgotten most 
of the arts of settled life and sunk into a wild state." Crim- 
inals who had fled from society to escape punishment, also 
trappers and hunters in wild regions, would, with their de- 
scendants, lose the restraints and the arts of civilized life, 
and in time would become savage. 

In regard to the freedom enjoyed by man in a wild state 
the pure simplicity, the magnanimity and generosity of char- 
acter which he there exhibits, according to poets and ro- 
mancing novel writers, Archbishop "Whateley has well ob- 
served, " The liberty enjoyed by the savage consists in his 
being left free to oppress and plunder any one who is weaker 
than himself, and of being exposed to the same treatment from 
those who are stronger. His boasted simplicity consists 
merely in grossness of taste, improvidence and ignorance. 
His virtue merely amounts to this, that though not less cov- 
etous, envious, and malicious than civilized man, he wants 
the skill to be as dangerous as one of equally depraved char- 
acter, but more intelligent and better informed." Surely such 
was not man as he came forth perfect from his Maker's hands, 
in the image of God, and only a little lower than the angels. 



30 FIRST THINGS. 

We have no account of the personal appearance of those 
who figured in the early part of the world's history. We 
cannot but think, however, that when Adam was first created, 
formed after the likeness of God, in knowledge and holiness, 
with a free will, and with dominion over the creatures, 
made at once full grown, with all his faculties, with a body 
not yet weakened and defaced by sin, and which had a 
power, even while under the sentence, " dying thou shalt 
die," to last nearly a thousand years, we cannot but think 
that when he was thus first made, a perfect work, pronounced 
" very good" by the Great Creator, Adam must have been in 
appearance the noblest specimen of a man that ever walked 
the earth. 

" Not out of weakness rose his gradual frame ; 
Perfect from his Creator's hand he came ; 
And, as in form excelling, so in mind 
The sire of men transcended all mankind." ' 

And Eve must have had concentrated in her person all 
that the world has ever conceived of as beautiful and lovely 
in woman. Humanly speaking we may well be proud of our 
first parents : and we may well be satisfied, that we had such 
a representative in whom we were to stand or fall, as Adam 
was, when created. 

There is a second Adam, 2 spoken of in history, " who is 
the image of the invisible God,' 73 " the express image of his 
person," 4 in whom " dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily." 5 He also is the head and representative of a people ; 
but they shall never fall : for they will be forever perfect 
in Him, who is their head. 6 He is represented to us as hav- 
ing " his visage marred more than any man, a man of sorrows 
and acquainted with grief, having no form nor comeliness ; 

1 Montgomery. 4 Heb. i. 3. 

2 1 Cor. xv. 45. 5 Col. ii. 9. 

3 Col. i. 15. 6 Eph. i. 23 ; iv. 16 ; v. 30 ; John xiv. 19. 



THE FIRST MAN. 31 

and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should 
desire him." 1 

Adam, created at once a man, lived nine hundred and 
thirty years ; and, according to the Hebrew text, was co- 
temporary with all the patriarchs down to Lamech, the father 
of Noah. Lamech was fifty-six years old when Adam died. 
Thus Noah could have heard from his father, who had re- 
ceived it from Adam, a history of the world from the crea- 
tion. 

How long Eve lived is not stated. It is a curious fact, 
that in sacred history the age, death, and burial of only one 
woman, Sarah the wife of Abraham, are distinctly noted. 
Woman's age ever since appears not to have been a subject 
for history or discussion. 

'Isai. lii. 14; liii. 2. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FIRST MAREIAGE. 

ADAM did not long remain a bachelor. Even in Para- 
dise he found, for a short time, that something was 
lacking, " For Adam there was not found an help meet for 
him." 1 "The Lord God said, It is not good that the man 
should be alone." 2 A wife was therefore provided for him ; 
and on the first day of his manhood, the first day of his life, 
Adam was married. 3 There are several facts connected 
with this first marriage in the world deserving attention ; as 
it was the great foundation of all the social relationships, 
and of all the dear family ties and joys which have ever 
been in the world. It was also the foundation of all govern- 
ment. And history, and the present experience of the world, 
show that so far as the plan of the first marriage has been 
followed, or departed from, so have men brought happiness 
or misery on themselves. 

There is some truth in the old adage that " marriage^ are 
made in heaven." They are so very often for the children 
of God. It was so with the first marriage. The Lord chose 
the wife for Adam, and prepared her especially for him. 
Adam was not even consulted. In accordance we find that 
the people of God afterward selected wives for their chil- 
dren. Abraham chose a wife for Isaac, and sent his servant 
to get her, saying, " The Lord God shall send his angel before 
thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence." 4 
Isaac charged Jacob whom he should not marry, and directed 
him to take a wife of the daughters of Laban. 5 The custom 

1 Gen. ii. 20. 2 Gen. ii. 18. 3 Matt. xix. 4, 6 ; Gen. ii. 25. 

4 Gen. xxiv. 4, 7. 5 Gen. xxviii. 1. 

(32) 



THE FIRST MARRIAGE. 33 

of the Jews was for the parents to betroth their children 
even in early life. Truly, "A prudent wife is from the 
Lord." 1 

The Lord said, " I will make him an help meet for him." 3 
The forsaking of this first principle of marriage, having " an 
help meet," has brought untold misery into the world. It 
promoted the great wickedness of the antediluvians ; it caused 
the Church to disappear almost entirely from the earth, and 
thus brought the deluge upon it. " The sons of God saw the 
daughters of men that they were fair ; and they took them 
wives of all which they chose." 3 The children of God, as 
the Lord's people are called throughout the sacred history, 
married with the children of the world. Instead of convert- 
ing them, as many are apt to think may be the case with 
those in whom they may be interested, the result proved as 
God, when charging His people on this subject, says it will 
always be. His charge is, " Thy daughter thou shalt not 
give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy 
son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, 
that they may serve other gods : so will the anger of the 
Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly." 4 

There are no sinners so great as they who sin against light 
and knowledge. It is not strange therefore that the record 
goes on to say : " There were giants on the earth in those 
days :" monsters in iniquity. The children of the mixed 
marriages became " mighty men, men of renown. And God 
saw the wickedness of man was great." 5 The children of 
God are therefore again directed, " Be ye not unequally 
yoked with unbelievers," 6 and when ye marry, marry " only 
in the Lord." 7 

Another noticeable feature in the first marriage was that 
the Lord gave Adam, the head of the race, only one wife. 
History shows that his posterity, when they forsook God 

1 Prov. xix. 14. 2 Gen. ii. 18. 3 Gen. vi. 2. 4 Deut. vii. 3. 

6 Gen. vi. 4, 5. 6 2 Cor. vi. 14. T 1 Cor. vii. 39. 

3 



34 FIRST THINGS. 

also forsook this feature in marriage, as it was originally 
instituted. It also shows that God's chastisement or curse 
has invariably followed the alteration. Polygamy is first 
spoken of as occurring among the children of Cain : " And 
Lamech took unto him two wives." 1 Since then, as a gen- 
eral rule, with the introduction of polygamy, woman has been 
only a toy or a slave in all places where God is not acknoAvl- 
edged. By a trick of Laban, Jacob was persuaded to marry 
two wives. The consequence, was constant hatred and jeal- 
ousy, almost resulting in murder, between his children : caus- 
ing trouble which came nigh bringing his gray hairs with sor- 
row to the grave. David added to his wives, and the result 
among his children was rape and incest by one, the murder 
of his brother by another, an attempt to seize the kingdom 
by a third, and a fourth causing his brother to be put to 
death for doing so. All this is the natural result of polyg- 
amy. 

At the first marriage the two were pronounced "one 
flesh." 2 We find afterward the marriage tie became so loose, 
even among God's people, that Moses made rules to regulate 
the severing of it. The Pharisees to tempt the Lord Jesus 
Christ quoted these commands of Moses. His reply is wor- 
thy of remembrance : " Have ye not read that He which 
made them at the beginning made them male and female, and 
said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and 
s~hall cleave (original, be cemented) to his wife : and they twain 
shall be one flesh ? Moses, because of the hardness of your 
hearts, suffered you to put away your wives ; but from the 
beginning it was not so. What therefore God had joined 
together, let not man put asunder." 3 He then says that a 
wife may be put away for one cause only : and that with- 
out that cause, " whosoever shall put away his wife, and shall 
marry another, committeth adultery. 3 No human law can 
set aside this law of God. 

1 Gen. iv. 19. 2 Gen. ii. 5J4. » Matt. xix. 3-9. 



THE FIRST MARRIAGE. 35 

Thus was celebrated the first marriage. He who made 
them one- closed it with his blessing. " God blessed them, 
and God said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the 
earth and subdue it : and have dominion over every living 
thing upon the earth." A delightful residence had been 
prepared for them ; and Adam received his bride arrayed 
with that garment of beauty, purity, and innocence, with 
which her Creator had adorned her. "They were both 
naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." 1 Happy 
couple ! with unclouded prospects, and yet their honeymoon, 
oh, how short ! 

It is well here to bear in mind the words of our Lord : 
" In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in 
marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." 2 

1 Gen. ii. 25. 2 Matt. xxii. 30. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE FIRST LANGUAGE. 

IT appears that as soon as Adam and Eve were created 
they could talk. They were not only made able at once 
to speak, but with the power of speech they also received a 
language. This language was a gift direct from God : 
otherwise it could never have been discovered. It is now 
communicated from one to another ; and is only acquired by 
imitation, and after long practice. 

It is interesting to trace what this first language was, 
which the Great Creator gave to His children, and which 
He used in conversing with them : and to catch the sounds 
which our first parents used in their prayers and praises to 
their Father and their God, and to express their joys and 
sorrows to one another. This language was doubtless the 
noblest ever uttered by man : being transmitted to us 
through man degraded by the Fall, it comes down, having 
lost, perhaps, in some degree, its original purity. 

The languages now in use in the world, like the traditions 
of the nations which have been perpetuated by language, 
are easily traced back to one fountain-head. Those of the 
Christian part of it came from the Roman and Greek ; and 
they were derived from the Phoenician and Hebrew, their 
very alphabets and letters coming the same way. The 
Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan were dialects of the Hebrew. 
The principal languages of the heathen world, the Arabic, 
the Persian, and the Sanscrit show a relationship to the 
same source. In that language the oldest book, by nearly 
a thousand years, was written. 

(36) 



THE FIKST LANGUAGE. 37 

The first difference in language in the world took place 
when the descendants of Noah attempted to build the tower 
of Babel. Then " the whole earth was of one language and 
of one speech.". To restrain those who began to build the 
tower, and to keep them from following out their imagination, 
the Lord said : " Let us go down, and there confound their 
language, that they may not understand one another's speech." ' 

This confusion of tongues occurred among those who had 
forsaken God, leaving the original language with His chil- 
dren — with those who retained His word and his worship. 
They never could lose the language which contained the 
knowledge of all that they held most clear ; the precepts and 
promises of their God ; and even the names by which He 
had made himself known to them, and which they constantly 
used in addressing Him. There was no reason why their 
language should be changed as in the case of Babel. And 
as long as the Church of God is in the world, which will be 
to the end of it, the Hebrew will be cherished as the first 
revelation of God through His word. Through it alone He 
spake to man for four thousand years : in it He gave the 
law written with His own finger ; and on the cross, our 
Lord used it in speaking those memorable words : " Eli, 
Eli, lama Sabacthani ? " — My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me ? 

The first names in the world, whether given to men, 
places, the Sabbath, or to religious rites, were associated 
with something connected with the object named ; and in 
many places of the sacred history the reason is recorded 
why the person or thing was so named. These first names 
are all Hebrew ; and the explanation or meaning of them is 
also in Hebrew, thus proving that it was the language used 
at the time they were so named. It was thus with the 
names of Adam, Eve, Cain, Seth, Noah, etc., which all have 
a meaning. The wonderful names by which God has con- 

1 Gen. xi. 6. 



38 FIRST THINGS. 

descended to reveal Himself to us, the great names Jehovah, 
and Jesus, or Joshua, are also Hebrew, and full of meaning. 

It is remarkable, that the first confusion of tongues oc- 
curred in consequence of the evil imaginations of men ; and 
that the first work of the Holy Ghost, when He descended 
on the day of Pentecost, was the gift of tongues to bring men 
back to God. We are told that in heaven, an innumerable 
company, gathered of all nations and tongues, unite in one 
voice, ascribing, " Salvation to God and unto the Lamb." ! 

The Jews had a tradition, that before the fall, animals 
could talk. Josephus, in his history, speaking of the temp- 
tation, says : " All living creatures had one language." 
Some of them certainly appear to have the organs of speech ; 
and even birds can be taught to talk. While we have no 
positive knowledge of the matter, we know that animals 
have suffered a change with all creation since the fall. It 
does not appear that Eve was surprised that the serpent 
could speak ; but she could not well be surprised at any- 
thing ; for where every thing was new, nothing could be 
particularly strange. 

It is interesting to trace words back from language to 
language to their source, and to see how original words in 
traveling through time expand and grow. For instance, 
from caph or cap, Hebrew, the hollow of the hand, comes the 
latin captivus, captive, a person held in hand ; also, cavus, 
cave. The tap of the drum from the Hebrew tap to strike, 
to beat. Cypher, a mode of writing, also numbers ; from 
sepher, to count, to write. Many of our words sound almost 
the same in both languages ; as, Auil, evil ; Bum, to be 
silent ; Hul, to howl ; Sac, sackcloth ; Kara, to cry ; Sir, 
a prince, etc. How natural it is for all infants in their first 
attempts to speak, to say ab-bab-ab, or em-mem-em. How 
few know that these words were used by the first children 
in the world to express words dear to all. In Hebrew, Ab, 
or Abba, means father, and Em means mother. 

1 Rev. vii. 9. 



CHAPTER XII. 

FIEST WORK — FIRST SABBATH — FIRST FOOD. 

THE idea that most persons entertain that work is part 
of the curse, a consequence of sin and of the Fall, is 
a great mistake. History reveals to us that all holy beings 
work. The first verse of history, the first revelation of God 
speaks of Him as working. God created the heaven and the 
earth. Again it says, " On the seventh day God ended his 
ivork." 1 Our Lord used the same manner of expression in 
speaking to the Jews : " My Father worketh hitherto, and I 
work." 2 We have already seen that the holy angels are 
" ministering spirits." It should not be considered strange, 
therefore, that so soon as Adam was created, work was 
found for him even in Eden. The record says, " the Lord 
God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to 
dress it and to keep it." 3 Endowed with a mind of almost 
unlimited capacity, and a body prepared for work, and with 
an earth filled with treasures for his use and comfort, part 
of the blessing upon him was, " replenish the earth and sub- 
due it." 4 We find, also, God bringing to his notice every 
living creature : and Adam gave names to them all. 5 Em- 
ployment was found for hand and tongue, for mind and heart. 
The command " Six days shalt thou labor," was thus first 
given to man in Paradise ; and like all the other commands 
of God, it is not a curse but in order for a blessing. For 
the commands of God are all given in love. The promises 
made to the diligent and universal experience show that 

1 Gen. ii. 2. 2 John v. IT. 3 Gen. ii. 15. 

4 Gen. i. 28. 6 Gen. ii. 20. 

(39) 



40 FIRST THINGS. 

our prosperity and our happiness are connected with work. 
And although we are saved by faith, yet we are told, that 
"Faith without works is dead." 1 

And now appears another of the great foundation-stones 
of history ; oue which the Word of God, the history of 
the world, and the varied condition of the nations now on 
the earth, abundantly prove to be connected with the highest 
interests of man. Joined to the command to work is an- 
other command : " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it 
holy." 

Many look upon this commandment as first given by Mo- 
ses to the Jews at Mount Sinai ; but it was not so. The 
Sabbath was instituted at creation, and was given to man in 
the garden of Eden. " On the seventh day God ended his 
work which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day 
from all his work which he had made. And God blessed 
the seventh day, and sanctified it : because that in it he had 
rested from all his work, which God created and made." 2 

The word Sabbath, means rest. The Hebrew word trans- 
lated " rested " means rather ceased / being not opposed to 
weariness, but to action : as God can neither know fatigue 
or need rest. Thus God " blessed " the first day after crea- 
tion was finished, and " hallowed it." The first day of man's 
life was the Sabbath. The fourth commandment does not 
institute the Sabbath but reminds us of it ; and it tells us to 
" Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," and uses the 
same words to enforce it, that God did when he sanctified 
it at creation. Man, the creature, was thus continually to 
be reminded of his Creator. 

The Sabbath, as a sign between God and his people, has 
now additional claims ; two other important facts in history, 
each causing a corresponding change of the day, have been 
connected with it. It is now a sign of creation, redemption, 
and sanctification. " I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign 

1 James ii. '26. 2 Gen. ii. 2. 



FIRST SABBATH. 41 

between me and them, that they might know that I am the 
Lord that sanctify them." 1 Each seventh day after the first 
day of man's life, being to him the first day of the week, con- 
tinued to be thus consecrated until the deliverance of the 
Lord's people from Egypt, when, with the change of the be- 
ginning of the year, the Sabbath was changed to the seventh 
day, the day of the Exodus, to commemorate that event. 
" Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, 
and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through 
a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm ; therefore, the 
Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day." 2 
That day passed away, with the other types of the Jewish 
dispensation, when the Creator had accomplished the great 
deliverance of His people by the sacrifice of Himself. On 
the first day of the week, the work of redemption was com- 
pleted. On that day the Lord rose from the dead ; and on 
that day he repeatedly appeared to his disciples as they 
were assembled together. 3 On that day, the day of Pen- 
tecost, the Holy Ghost descended. A change of the Sab- 
bath consequently followed, and the first day of the week, 4 
the first day of the life of the Church in Christ its head, 
again became the Lord's day, and was consecrated as the 
Sabbath. Upon the first day of the week, therefore, the 
disciples came together to commemorate the Lord's death 
at His table, and to attend preaching, 5 and upon that day 
" every one is directed to lay by him in store an offering to 
the Lord as God hath prospered him." 6 

We find that God hallowed not only the first of man's 
time, and the first day of the Church risen in Christ, but He 
also claimed of his people the first fruits of their fields, the 
first born of their beasts and their first born son. 7 

1 Ezek. xx. 12 ; Exod. xxxi. 13. 2 Deut. v. 15. s John xx. 19, 26. 
4 The wording in Matt, xxviii. 1, is remarkable. In the original it reads, 

"In the end of the Sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first of 

the Sabbaths." 
e Acts xx. 1. 6 1 Cor. xvi. 2. T Exod. xiii. 12; Levit. xxiii. 10. 



42 FIRST THINGS. 

The division of time into weeks was continued, even in 
places where men had ceased to acknowledge Him who had 
hallowed the seventh day. Even the number seven was con- 
sidered a sacred or mystical number. Laban speaks of 
weeks. 1 The ancient Assyrians, descendants of Shein ; the 
Egyptians, descendants of Ham ; the Arabians, descendants 
of Ishmael ; the Phoenicians, and other idolatrous nations, 
retained the week of seven days. And now, among the dif- 
ferent nations of the earth, almost every day of the week is 
observed by one or another as a weekly festival or holiday, 
as a seventh day or sabbath : the Christian keeping Sun- 
day, the Jews Saturday, the Mahommedans Friday, etc. 

The Sabbath is one of the greatest blessings ever con- 
ferred upon man ; it is a necessity of his nature, body and 
soul both requiring it. Even working cattle need it, and 
will do more work by resting one day in seven. The Lord 
says : " The Sabbath was made for man." 2 

Both history and God's word teach us, that this law, con- 
nected with our creation and our redemption, never has been, 
and never can be, broken with impunity. Infidels, in their 
vain attempts to dethrone their Creator, have tried to put 
aside His day. In the French Revolution of 1793, the Con- 
vention abolished the Sabbath ; appointed instead of it every 
tenth day a period of rest, and directed the measurement of 
time by divisions of ten days. This was preparatory to a 
general abolition of the Christian religion, and a substitution 
of the worship of Reason in its stead. The result was, a 
state of society too terrible and too horrible even for Infidels 
to bear. And France was soon compelled to retrace her 
steps. Brutality and crime, physical and moral degradation, 
always accompany the desecration of the Sabbath ; and the 
wrath of God is visibly revealed. 

What a day of joy and gladness the first Sabbath must 
have been to Adam and Eve ! The first day after their 

1 Gen. xxix. 27. 2 Mark ii. 27. 



FIRST FOOD. 48 

creation and their union, the light of the first morning- they 
ever beheld, was the Sabbath ; and it was given to them 
that they might, in sweet fellowship with one another, con- 
template the wonderful works of their Creator, all minister- 
ing to their happiness ; and that they might hold a day of 
uninterrupted loving communion with one another and with 
their Father, God. It was probably the only Sabbath they 
ever thus enjoyed. 

The first food prepared for man, and given to him in his 
first estate, was plain and simple. Fruits and vegetables, in 
the abundance and variety, however, of the garden which 
God had planted, gratified his taste, while supporting his 
life. " Every herb bearing seed, and every tree, in the which 
is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shall be for 
meat." 1 The animals and the fowls of the air could then 
dwell together in peace without fear, for " every green herb " 
supplied their wants. 

God selected that, which was to supply this daily recur- 
ring want of our nature, as a field in which to place a test 
of that faith, confidence and obedience, without which a 
creature cannot be happy. Our first parents were restricted 
from the fruit of only one tree ; that one they were forbidden 
even to touch. They did not need it ; they had no desire for 
it. They had no knowledge of evil, nor of that Evil Being 
who now appears in history. 

1 Gen. i. 29, 30. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DEVIL — DEMONS — FAMILIAR SPIRITS. 

THE history of angels and of men confirms the important 
testimony of God's word, that creatures left to the 
freedom of their own will, though created holy, will not 
continue so, unless constantly upheld by the grace and 
power of God. 

In the history of angels we have the first revelation of 
God's grace ; and, that as a sovereign, He dispenses that 
grace according to his own will. His " elect angels" 1 were 
upheld : the rest were allowed to fall. In the history of 
man we have the first intimation that God is a God of 
mercy, and that, in dispensing mercy, He is likewise sover- 
eign. Some men are elected, called, justified, and saved ; 2 
while the rest are left to their own will, and to follow their 
own wicked inclinations. " He hath mercy on whom he 
will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." " Shall 
the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou 
made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay ?" 3 
Rather let us say with the Lord Jesus : " I thank thee, 
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid 
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto babes. Even so, Father ; for so it seemed good 
in thy sight." 4 

A great number of angels " kept not their first estate, 
but left their own habitation." 3 They are of different 
ranks, and are described as, " principalities, powers, rulers 

1 1 Tim. v. 21. 2 Rom. Yiii. 29. 3 Rom. ix. 18, 20, 21. 

4 Matt. xi. 25. B Jude 6. 



THE DEVIL, 45 

of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness, 
or wicked spirits." * Among them is one so preeminent, 
that while they are all called devils, or demons, he is known 
as the Devil : and the others are spoken of as his angels. 2 
He is called " Beelzebub, the prince of the devils :" 3 and is 
said to have a kingdom. 4 The word Devil, from the Greek, 
Diabolos, means Calumniator or Accuser. Another name he 
bears, Satan, means Adversary or Accuser. Hence he is 
called " the accuser of the brethren.' 75 His false accusations 
were the commencement of Job's trials. Satan came with 
the sons of God before the Lord, and said, " Doth Job fear 
God for nought ? Put forth thine hand now, and touch all 
that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face." 6 He is 
known also as the " prince of this world ; 7 " the god of this 
world;" 8 "the father of unbelievers, even though they be 
children of Abraham, a murderer from the beginning, a liar, 
and the father of it." 9 Though all the devils are deceivers 
and adversaries ; and though the Bible says : " Some shall 
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and 
doctrines of devils ;" 10 yet we are warned particularly 
against their great leader : " Be sober, be vigilant ; because 
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, 
seeking whom he may devour." u He is the great " deceiver, 
that deceiveth the nations :" 12 " the prince of the power of 
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of dis- 
obedience." 13 

" God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell." u Our Lord said : " I beheld Satan as light- 
ning fall from heaven." 15 From all accounts, Satan was 
probably the most intelligent, the most powerful, the greatest 

' 1 Ephes. vi. 12. 6 Job. i. 9, 11. " 1 Peter v. 8. 

2 Matt. iv. 5, 8 ; Rev. xii. 9. T John xii. 31; xiv. 30. u Rev. xx. 3, 8, 10. 

3 Matt. xii. 24. 8 2 Cor. iv. 4. " Eph. ii. 2. 

4 Matt. xii. 26. 9 John viii. 44. 14 2 Peter ii. 4. 
6 Rev. xii. 10. ,0 1 Tim. iv. 1. 15 Lnke x. 18. 



46 FIRST THINGS. 

being ever created. His condemnation was pride. 1 He 
exalted himself against God, and his first temptation of man 
was telling him : " Ye shall be as God." 

" Pride, self-adoring pride ; was primal cause 
Of all sin past, all pain, all woe to come. 
Unconquerable pride ; first, eldest sin, 
Great fountain head of evil ! highest source, 
Whence flowed rebellion 'gainst the Omnipotent. 
Whence hate of man, and all else ill. 
Pride at the bottom of the human heart 
Lay, and gave root and nourishment to all 
That grew above. Great ancestor of vice ! 
Hate, unbelief, and blasphemy of God." — Pollok. 

Well might the prophet exclaim : " How art thou fallen 
from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou 
cut down to the ground." 2 For fallen angels no Saviour, no 
redemption was provided : our Lord " took not on him the 
nature of angels." 3 " He hath reserved them in everlasting 
chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 4 
We are told " the devils believe that there is one God, and 
tremble." 5 And Satan, the Devil, is said to have " great 
wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." 6 

Men little think what an influence the Devil and his 
angels have had in the history of the world, from creation 
to the present time. Even the children of God, as they are 
apt to forget the ministering of holy angels, also forget their 
constant exposure to the snares of evil ones ; and need con- 
tinually to be told, " Watch and pray, that ye enter not into 
temptation." Happy are they that the great Shepherd 
watches over them ! as He did over Peter when He said : 
" Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that 
he may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee that 
thy faith fail not." 7 

1 1 Tim. iii. 6. 2 Isaiah xiv. 12. 3 Heb. ii. 16. 4 Jude fi. 

5 James ii. 19. B Rev. xii. 12. 7 Luke xxii. 31. 



FAMILIAR SPIRITS. 47 

From the beginning we find, that the Devil has had a hand, 
and sometimes a controlling one, in all the most important 
events of the history of man. The word of God teaches ns 
that devils can enter into men and dwell in them. That one 
may go out of a man and afterwards return and take " seven 
other spirits more wicked than himself and enter in and 
dwell there." l Out of Mary Magdalene seven devils were 
cast : 2 out of a Gadarene, Jesus cast out a " Legion : because 
many devils were entered into him." 3 When great ends 
were to be accomplished, the Prince of the Devils, " the 
tempter," himself acted. He tempted Eve : he " stood up 
against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel ;" 4 he 
tempted our Lord in the wilderness. And in his greatest 
effort, when he tried to destroy Jesus, " Satan entered into 
Judas surnamed Iscariot," 5 and moved him to betray his 
master. Little did Satan think that he was assisting to 
carry out " the purpose for which the Son of God was mani- 
fested, that he might destroy the works of the devil : " 6 and 
that the time predicted was then come, that his own head 
should be crushed. 

During the four thousand years of the history which God 
has given to us, frequent reference is made to wicked per- 
sons having familiar spirits ; and consulting with them : and 
also to people seeking information from the dead. The word 
necromancer, Deut. xviii. 11, means " one who seeks enquiries 
of the dead." For such and other abominations the Lord 
destroyed the Canaanites. 7 About four hundred years after- 
wards, " Saul died for his transgression against the Lord, and 
also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit." 8 
The law of God to the Jews on this subject was, " A man or 
woman that hath a familiar spirit shall surely be put to 
death." 9 " The soul that turneth after such as have familiar 

1 Matt. xii. 45. ' 1 Cliron. xxi. 1. T Deut. xviii. 12. 

2 Mark xvi. 0. D Luke xxii. 3; John xiii. 27. fl 1 Chron. x. 13. 

3 Luke viii. 30. B 1 John iii. 8. 9 Levit xx. 27. 



48 FIRST THINGS. 

spirits, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut 
him off from among his people." x We are told that wicked 
Manasseh, three hundred and fifty years after Saul, " dealt 
with a familiar spirit : 2 and afterwards that his grandson 
Josiah put away from the land, with other abominations, 
" the workers with familiar spirits." 3 When our Saviour 
was on the earth, Devils frequently spoke through men, even 
acknowledging him ;i as the Holy one of God ; " " Christ 
the Son of God." 4 But he rebuked them and would not 
suffer them to speak or testify of him. 5 In Philippi, " a 
damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, which brought 
her masters much gain by soothsaying, cried after the 
apostles, saying, These men are the . servants of the most 
high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. Paul 
being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee 
in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he 
came out the same hour." 6 

The casting of devils and evil spirits out of persons, is 
spoken of as occurring almost in every place visited by our 
Saviour, or the apostles. In all ages, we see that men are 
inclined to " seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and 
to the dead, rather than to God, his law, and his testimony." 7 
Abraham's answer to the man in hell who wanted to send one 
from the dead to convert his brethren is worthy of notice : 
" If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they 
be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." 8 

Devils will take part in the history of man till the end of 
the world. . We are told that in the millennium, that old ser- 
pent, which is the Devil, and Satan, shall be bound a thousand 
years ; and when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall 
be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the 
nations ; to gather them, as the sand of the sea in number, to 

1 Levit. xx. 6. 3 2 Kings xxiii. 24. s Mark iii. 12; Luke iv. 41. 

2 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6. 4 Luke iv. 34, 41. ° Acts xvi. 16. 

7 Isa. viii. 19. s Luke xvi. 31. 



THE DEVIL. 49 

battle : and while they compass the camp of the saints about, 
fire shall come down from God out of heaven, and devour 
them. 1 And then shall be the judgment. God's history 
goes further, and says, that devils and some men shall be 
associated hereafter. " The King shall say to them on the 
left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels." 2 

As we look through the history of the world, let us notice 
the important place which the Devil and his angels take in 
every part of that history. Let us remember that he quoted 
the word of God when tempting our Saviour : and that to 
effect his purpose, " Satan himself is transformed into an 
angel of light, and his ministers, as the ministers of right- 
eousness." 3 Paul tells us why we should know all this ; " lest 
Satan should get an advantage of us : for we are not ignor- 
ant of his devices," 4 and also that we may know, with what 
fearful beings we have " to wrestle :" so powerful, that Paul 
exhorts, " Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be 
able to stand against the wiles of the devil." 5 The Chris- 
tian is also told, " Resist the devil, and he will flee from 
you:" 6 "Be strong in the Lord," " taking the shield of faith, 
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of 
the wicked." There is one way in which he is very easily 
overcome : 

" Satan trembles when he sees 

The weakest saint upon his knees." 

Let us now return to the garden of Eden. Behold ! the 
prince of the devils is there ; and with that crafty, wicked 
Spirit, the gentle, confiding, and unsuspicious Eve is left 
alone. 

1 Rev. xx. 2, 1.9. 3 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15. 5 Eph. vi. 11, 16. 

2 Matt, xxv. 41. "2 Cor. ii. 11. « James iv. 7. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

THE PIEST SIN — THE FALL — FIRST EFFECTS OF SIN — FIRST 
GOSPEL CALL. 

THE " Prince of the devils " assisted in laying the found- 
ation-stone which we have now reached ; and to 
accomplish his purpose he entered into a serpent. On it 
he built " a kingdom ; "* making himself the " God of this 
world." 2 It is the foundation of all the sin, suffering, and 
sorrow, under which the world has groaned for nearly six 
thousand years. How exceedingly short and simple, are the 
details of a fact, which led to the destruction of one world 
by a flood, and will lead to its destruction a second time by 
fire ! that led even the Creator himself to take upon him our 
nature, and suffer and die, to redeem a people to himself ! 

The serpent " said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, 
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? And the 
woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the 
trees of the garden : but of the fruit of the tree which is in 
the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of 
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent 
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die : for God doth 
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be 
opened, and ye shall be as gods (or as God), knowing good 
and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good 
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to 
be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, 
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her ; and 
he did eat." 3 

' Matt. xii. 24, 26. 2 2 Cor. iv. 4. 3 Gen. iii. 1. 

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THE FIRST SIN. 51 

A few words are spoken to a woman ; she listens, reasons 
a moment, eats an apple, gives of it to her husband, and he 
eats. In an instant they are changed ; they have lost their 
holiness, their spiritual life ; and at once they begin to suffer 
the eternal death, " the dying thou shalt die." * This change 
is called by the expressive word, the Fall. 

In consequence of the federal relation which Adam sus- 
tained to his posterity, as their head, a fountain of corrup- 
tion was thus opened, which tainted all the race. All are 
"conceived in sin' 72 and "born unclean; 7 ' 3 "there is none 
righteous, no, not one ! " 4 and thus " death passed upon all 
men, for in Adam, all sinned." 5 

Little did our first parents dream of the unutterable woe 
and misery they were bringing upon themselves and entail- 
ing upon the untold millions of their descendants. We, how- 
ever, cannot condemn them. Knowing no sin they had no 
idea of fear, of suffering, or of death. Let those condemn 
them, who seeing and feeling the effects of sin, and knowing 
in some degree what death is, yet love sin, and choose to 
continue in it. 

It is worthy of notice that the first sin combined " the lust 
of the eye," the woman " saw it was pleasant to the eyes ; " 
" the lust of the flesh," it was " good for food ; " and " the 
pride of life," it was " a tree to be desired to make one 
wise." It has been well remarked, that human reason has 
been a traitor since the fall. It was so, before the fall ; 
they reasoned themselves into sin. It is also worthy of no- 
tice, the first sin was unbelief, or want of faith ; therefore, 
the gospel message is, Believe ; and salvation is by faith. 

The immediate effect of the Fall as shown in Adam, and 
also in all his posterity, was a change from the spirit of 
love, to the spirit of the devil : fear, a desire to hide away 
from God ; hatred of God (for what we dread, we hate), and 

1 Gen. ii. 11. 2 Psalm li. 5. 3 Job xiv. 4; xv. 14 ; Ps. lviii. 3. 

4 Rom. iii. 10. 6 Rom. v. 12, 15, 18; 1 Cor. xv. 22. 



52 PIKST THINGS. 

a spirit of false accusation : excusing himself, and charging 
the woman, and even God, as the author of his sin : " The 
woman whom thou gavest to be witli me, she gave me of 
the tree." 1 "Adam and his wife hid themselves from the 
presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." 2 
Blessed be God ! He did not leave man to follow his own 
inclinations ; to add sin to sin, and to go farther and farther 
away from God to eternity. " The Lord God called unto 
Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" 3 It was the 
first gospel call. God calling after a fugitive sinner to re- 
turn to Him, to consider his sin, and to hear a promise, be- 
fore pronouncing a curse. 

1 Gen. iii. 12. 2 Gen. iii. 8. 3 Gen. iii. 9. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE FIRST PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR — FIRST EFFECTS OF THE 
CURSE — FIRST CLOTHING EXPULSION FROM EDEN. 

WE can almost hear Satan's shout of triumph when he 
found that he had succeeded in casting a blight over 
the fair creation which God had pronounced very good : and 
as the news reached the fallen angels that their leader had 
established a new kingdom ; that man, the noblest work of 
God, had fallen into " the snare of the devil," 1 henceforth 
to be the " slave of sin, to obey it ;" 2 to be " the servant of 
corruption ; 3 and to be " taken captive by the devil at his 
will/ 74 we can almost hear the echoes of their demoniac 
laughter. We are told that when God's people " have tears 
to drink in great measure," " their enemies laugh among them- 
selves :" 5 Satan's triumph, however, was very short. 

In gaining his temporal kingdom, the Devil had earned 
the additional title of " that old Serpent," 6 and also an addi- 
tional curse. Man had incurred the penalty of an eternal 
" dying thou shalt die :" and all holy beings looked for the 
execution of the fearful penalty : for, until now, mercy and 
the forgiveness of sins were unknown. Neither fallen angels 
nor fallen man sought forgiveness ; nor of themselves would 
they ever do so ; for we are told " Repentance and the for- 
giveness of sins are given to Israel by Him whom God hath 
exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour." 7 

The Lord God called Adam and Eve to him ; and after 

1 Gen. iii. 6; 2 Tim. ii. 26. 2 Horn. vi. 16. s 2 Peter ii. 19. 

4 2 Tim. ii. 26. 6 Psm. Ixxx. 6. e Rev. xx. 2. 7 Acts v. 81. 

(53) 



54 FIRST THINGS. 

hearing their wicked excuses, before passing sentence upon 
them, He pronounced a curse on the Serpent. As part of 
that curse " the Lord God said, I will put enmity between 
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it 
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." 1 

Here we reach the most wonderful foundation-stone in his- 
tory. In this curse we get the first glimpse of the " Rock of 
Ages :" the first gleams of a coming redemption, seen dimly 
through the early dawn of revelation. Four thousand years 
passed before that revelation was completed. Then it was 
fully revealed that He " who worketh all things after the 
counsel of his own will," 2 " declaring the end from the begin- 
ning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet 
done," 3 had not only foreseen the Fall, but had also provided 
a remedy for it even before the world was made. A Re- 
deemer was found ; and a people were " chosen in him before 
the foundation of the world :" 4 a people who " were to be 
saved, not according to their works, but according to God's 
own purpose and grace which was given to them in Christ 
Jesus before the world began" 5 

In the curse upon the Serpent we have the first revelation 
of the Redeemer and his people. Thenceforth there were 
to be two seeds or races on the earth ; 6 the seed of the Ser- 
pent, those animated by his Spirit, all the natural seed of 
fallen man ; and the seed of the promise, the Saviour, and 
those chosen in Him who was to be born of the woman. 
There was to be enmity put by God himself between the 
two seeds. We shall see that enmity show itself between 
the first children, Cain and Abel ; and constantly appearing 
in the history of the church and of the world. The seed of 
the promise was to be persecuted by the seed of the serpent, 7 
but it was finally to triumph ; and the Serpent's power was 
to be crushed by One who was afterwards more fully re- 

' Gen. iii. 15. a Eph. i. 11. 3 Isaiah xlvi. 10. 4 Eph. i. 4. 

6 2 Tim. i. 0. 9 Matt. xiii. 38 ; John viii. 44 ; 1 John iii. 10. T Gall. iv. 29. 



THE FIRST PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR. 55 

vealed not only as the Son of man, but also the Son of God : 
" that he might destroy the works of the Devil." 1 

In the course of history we see that several times, just as 
Satan had apparently reached the summit of his ambition 
and had almost the entire possession of the world, he was 
humbled. It was so at the first temptation ; it was so when 
he got possession of the whole world, excepting Noah ; when 
God sent the flood and destroyed the children of the devil 
and preserved His own : it was so when Satan combined the 
church and the state ; the priest, Herod and Pilate, against 
Jesus : and it will be so in his last struggle ; when he shall 
gather the nations of the earth against the saints, just before 
the day of judgment and his own final doom. 2 

Although a Deliverer was promised, God said to the 
woman, " I will greatly multiply thy sorrow ;" and to the 
man, " cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt 
thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; thorns also and this- 
tles shall it bring forth to thee. In the sweat of thy face 
shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for 
out of it was thou taken ; for dust thou art, and unto dust 
shalt thou return." 3 Thus a curse passed on all creatures 
for man's sin ; and since then " the whole creation groaneth 
and travaileth in pain together until now," 4 waiting to be 
" delivered from the bondage of corruption." 

As a token of his faith in the promised Deliverer, Adam 
called his wife Eve, that is, life, " because she was the mother 
of all living." 5 Previously she had been " called Islia, woman, 
because she had been taken out of Ish, Man." 6 Eve also 
believed the promise ; and, as we shall see hereafter, named 
her children accordingly. God had put enmity between her 
and the serpent. 

Their faith was accepted : for the record goes on to say, 
" unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make 

1 John iii. 8. 3 Gen. iii. 16, 19. 5 Gen. iii. 20. 

2 Rev. xx. 9. •* Rom. viii. 22, 21. 6 Gen. ii. 23. 



56 FIRST THINGS. 

coats of skins, and clothed them." 1 These skins must have 
been the skins of animals offered in sacrifice : as animals 
were not given to man for food until after the flood. 2 We 
read afterwards of the " Lamb slain from the foundation of 
the world ;" 3 and also that Christ's people are clothed with 
his righteousness : " God clothed tliem." 4 

Our first parents were then sent forth from the garden of 
Eden. They must have been there but a very short time : 
probably not one week, perhaps only one day ; for although 
part of the blessing in their estate of innocence was, " Be 
fruitful and multiply," their first children, Cain and Abel, 
were conceived and born in sin, aftei the Tall, and their ex- 
pulsion from Eden. 5 

1 Gen. iii. 21. 2 Gen. ix. 3. 3 Rev. xiii. 8. 

4 Isaiah lxi. 10; Rom. iii. 22. 6 Gen. iv. 1. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FIRST CHILD — FIRST SACRIFICE— FIRST DEATH. 

THE first exclamation of surprise recorded, is that 
which Eve uttered when Cain was born. Part of the 
penalty inflicted upon the woman for being led by the ser- 
pent into sin was, that her sorrows should be greatly multi- 
plied in having children. 1 However, like most mothers since 
her time, Eve " remembered no more the anguish, for joy 
that a man was born in the world." 2 She exclaimed, " I 
have gotten a man from the Lord," 3 or / have gotten the 
man, Jehovah : and she therefore called him Cain, that is, 
gotten or acquired. She doubtless thought he was the Mes- 
siah, the promised seed by whom the serpent was to be de- 
stroyed. 

It appears the mother had the naming of the first child 
born into the world. We also find the wives of Jacob and 
others naming their children from circumstances occurring 
or connected with their birth. The hope that they should 
be the mother of the promised seed, of Him in whom all the 
nations of the earth were to be blessed, was one of the 
causes of the intense desire of having children, observable 
afterwards among the Jewish women. 

Eve soon found, that, instead of being of the seed of 
promise, " her gotten," her " Cain was of that wicked one : m 
was one of the seed of the serpent, one of " the children of 
the devil." 5 Finding she was mistaken, Eve thought that 

1 Gen. iii. 16. 2 John xvi. 21. 3 Gen. iv. 1. 

1 1 John iii 12. 5 1 John iii. 10. 

(57) 



58 FIRST THINGS. 

her next son was the promised seed, though she had named 
him Abel, vanity or sorrow. And when again disappointed 
by his death, still clinging to the promise, she fixed upon an- 
other son, born when Adam was one hundred and thirty 
years old ; or, according to the Septuagint, two hundred and 
thirty years old : and called him Seth, that is, appointed or 
put : " For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed 
instead of Abel." 1 

Although -heirs of all the world, the first children were not 
brought up in idleness. Cain was a tiller of the ground, 
and Abel was a keeper of sheep. They had also a religious 
training, and were taught to make offerings to the Lord. 
" In process of time," or at the end of days, at the end of 
the year or week, most probably on the Sabbath, " Cain 
brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the 
Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his 
flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect 
unto Abel and to his offering : but unto Cain and to his 
offering he had not respect." 2 It is most likely " there came 
a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar 
the burnt offering and the fat" 3 of Abel's sacrifice : as was 
the case at special times with sacrifices which the Lord ap- 
proved. i Abel's sacrifice appears to have been in compliance 
with a custom or form of worship already established. 

Cain's offering of the fruit of his labors was rejected. 
How strange ! Which of us would not prefer being pre- 
sented with a basket of choice fruit or flowers, rather than 
have a lamb or a dove killed and burnt before us ? It is 
common, however, for even earthly kings to dictate the way 
in which they are to be approached ; thus we see the law of 
king Ahasuerus was, " That whosoever, whether man or 
woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is 
not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, ex- 

1 Gen. iv. 25. 2 Gen. iv. 3. 3 Leyit. ix. 24 ; 1 Kings xviii. 38. 

4 Levit. ix. 24 ; Judges vi. 21 ; 1 Kings xviii. 38 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 26. 



THE FIRST SACRIFICE. 59 

cept such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre 
that he may live." 1 The King of kings in all times, has had 
an appointed way, in which only his rebellious subjects were 
to approach him. None were permitted to enter within the 
vail before the mercy-seat in the tabernacle, but Aaron the 
high priest ; and he at fixed times only, and with appointed 
offerings, under penalty of death. 2 The Kohathites, whose 
duty it was to carry the holy things, were thus warned : 
" They shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, 
lest they die :" 3 and God's command was, " The stranger that 
cometh nigh shall be put to death." i " Nadab and Abihu 
offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded 
them not. And there went out fire from the Lord and de- 
voured them, and they died before the Lord." 5 " Uzzah put 
forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it ; for 
the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled 
against Uzzah ; and God smote him there for his error ; and 
there he died by the ark of God." 6 King Uzziah, in his 
pride, invaded the priest's office, and attempted to burn in- 
cense ; while in the act, the Lord smote him with leprosy. 7 
Thanks be to God ! we are now permitted, and even directed 
through the Lord Jesus Christ, to " come boldly to the 
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace 
to help in time of need." 8 

Cain, it appears, did not believe the promise of God ; nor 
in the necessity of an atonement for sin. In the pride of 
unbelief he offered the unitarian offering of his own pro- 
ductions or works : and his offering was rejected. Abel 
believed the promise : for we are told, " By faith Abel 
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by 
which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testi- 
fying of his gifts." 9 He could not have offered it " by faith," 

1 Esther iv. 11. 3 Numb. iv. 20. 5 Levit. x. 1. 7 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. 

2 Levit. xvi. 2, 13. 4 Numb, xviii. 1. B 2 Saml. vi. 6. b Heb. iv. 16. 

9 Heb. xi. iv. 



60 FIRST THINGS. 

unless lie knew that God had appointed the sacrifice and 
would accept it. God has always declared his abhorrence 
of such worship as is taught by the precepts of men, without 
being instituted by Him and in accordance with his word. l 

The history of the religions which have been on the earth 
has filled volumes : but in reality there have been but two 
religions ; the followers of the Lord, and the followers of 
the Devil. 2 Ever since the offerings of Cain and Abel, the 
descendants of Adam, in all places and in all ages, have been 
presenting offerings in religious worship. The seed of the 
woman, the line of patriarchs, prophets and martyrs, all the 
chosen people of God, whether Jew or Christian, have come 
to God with faith in the " Lamb that was slain," the Lord 
Jesus Christ : while the seed of the serpent have, as con- 
stantly, been making offerings and sacrifices of every descrip- 
tion, according to their own inventions ; and have been as 
constantly rejected. And such has been the result even 
when they went through the outward forms of the sacrifices 
appointed by God. The Pharisees were very punctilious in 
observing all the precepts of the laws of Moses, even tything 
mint, anise and cummin ; but instead of seeking to be saved 
by faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, they hated 
him, and put him to death. They depended on their own 
works, and therefore they offered the sacrifice of Cain. 
Though children of Abraham, and members of the visible 
church, yet they were of the seed of the serpent ; for our 
Lord said to them, " Ye are of your father the devil." 3 We 
can easily tell of what seed we are : Do we offer unto God 
the offering of Cain, or the offering of Abel ? 

And here it is remarkable, that the Holy God, who is in- 
finite in love, should have directed the killing and the offer- 
ing in sacrifice of lambs and doves ; the very emblems of 
innocence. Yet such was the fact : and, from the Fall to 

1 Isaiah xxix. 13 ; Matt. xv. 9. 2 1 John iii. 8, 10. 

8 John viii. 44 ; Rev. ii. 9. 



THE FIRST DEATHS. 61 

the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, guilty man could ap- 
proach God in no other way. It is also remarkable, that the 
God of infinite justice should have allowed the only being 
who ever lived on earth " holy, harmless and undefiled " to 
suffer, and to be put to a cruel death. Why was it ? The 
sacrifices were one. Man had sinned : " the wages of sin is 
death : " 1 " without shedding of blood there is no remis- 
sion : " 2 " thus it behooved Christ to suffer : " 3 and He, " his 
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 4 

The first deaths in the world were of animals ; innocent 
animals slain by God himself, or according to his directions ; 
slain in consequence of man's sin, and for man's benefit. 
They were the lambs offered in sacrifice, with whose skins 
God clothed Adam and Eve. Could they have looked on 
those sacrifices without being deeply moved on account of 
their sin ? 

1 Rom. vi. 23. 3 Luke xxiv. 46. 

2 Heb. is. 22 ; Lev. xvii. 11. "1 Peter ii. xxiv. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FIRST PERSECUTION — FIRST MARTYR FIRST MURDER 

BURIALS — FIRST DEATH PENALTY. 

4 £ /~^\ AIN was very wroth, and his countenance fell.' 71 In- 
\_J stead of seeking mercy, he dared to be angry with 
God ; aud to dispute his right to dictate how a sinner should 
come unto Him. The Lord bore with him ; and " said unto 
Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 
If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted ? " What won- 
derful forbearance ! what amazing condescension on the part 
of the great, the holy God, toward a rebel defying him ! In- 
stead of submitting to God, and seeking instruction from Abel, 
" Cain talked with Abel, his brother." It was the first con- 
troversy, the first persecution for religious opinion. In his 
hatred of the truth, Cain, unable to strike down the Almighty, 
rose up against the child of God, " against Abel his brother, 
and slew him." " And wherefore slew he him ? Because his 
own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." 2 The 
wrath of the serpent, as has been the case often since, was 
thus instrumental in sending a redeemed soul the quicker to 
glory. The first of the seed of the promise died a martyr 
to his faith and as a witness for salvation by an atoning 
sacrifice ; for it is expressly stated, that Abel " being dead 
yet speaketh." 3 Since the death of Abel how many have 
been compelled to suffer and lay down their lives on account 
of their faith. 

Poor Adam and Eve! their first born, their "gotten," 
their noble, manly son, is a murderer : and what is worse, 

1 Gen. iv. 5. 2 1 John. iii. 12. s Ileb. xi. 4. 

(62) 



FIRST MURDER. 63 

is of the seed of the Serpent ; is rejected of God. Their 
second, their lovely Abel, is murdered because he bears the 
image of God. What multiplied sorrows ! far greater than 
the loss of Eden. What fruits from merely eating an apple ! 
Was that all ? Is any sin little f " Sin, when it is finished, 
bringeth forth death : ,n and ''the wages of sin are death." 2 

We have no account of the manner of Abel's burial. The 
first burial of which we have an account is that of Sarah, in 
the Cave of Machpelah, which was bought for a burial place 
by Abraham. 3 A favorite mode of burial with the Jews was 
in sepulchers hewn out of the rocks — our Lord was thus 
buried. Deborah and Rachel, having died while Jacob was 
journeying, were buried by him in graves. 4 A pillar or 
tombstone was placed by Jacob over Rachel's grave for a 
memorial of her. Both modes of burial were, doubtless, 
used from the beginning. 

The punishment of a murderer forms a part of the history 
as well as of the law which God has given to us. Cain was 
fool enough to think he could hide his crime even from God. 
When " the Lord said unto him, Where is Abel thy brother ? " 
he had the audacity to reply, " I know not : am I my broth- 
er's keeper ? " The family of our first parents were spared 
the additional sorrow of being compelled to put their son 
and brother to death as a murderer. The Lord himself be- 
came the avenger. The Lord said to Cain, "The voice of thy 
brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now 
art thou cursed from the earth." A curse passed upon his 
occupation, the fruit of which he had brought as an offering. 
" When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield 
unto thee her strength ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt 
thou be in the earth." Cain knew that his doom was sealed. 
In agony he exclaimed, " Thou has driven me out from the 
face of the earth ; and from thy face shall I be hid ; and I 
shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth ; and it shall 

1 James i. 15. 2 Rom. vi. 23. s Gen. xxiii. 9. 4 Gen. xxxv. 8, 19, 20. 



64 FIRST THINGS. 

come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 
My punishment is greater than I can bear." It appears the 
Lord gave him a special mark or token, " lest any finding 
him should kill him." 

It is remarkable that after the flood, when God blessed 
Noah and his sons, and gave all things into their hands, and 
for the first time gave them permission to eat flesh, saying, 
" Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you ; 
even as the green herb have I given you all things," he 
adds : " the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely 
your blood of your lives will I require ; at the hand of every 
beast will I require it, and at the hand of man ; at the 
hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be 
shed : for in the image of God made he man." x This law 
was given to Noah as the second head of the race. Since 
then, in all places and in all ages of the world, the murderer 
has been pursued with death ; even where there has been no 
law, the relatives of the murdered one, or a lawless mob, 
have always been constrained to carry God's sentence into 
execution. No human law can abrogate the death-penalty 
for murder. Woe to the community that attempts it ! For 
the people have taken, and always will take the law in their 
own hands : and while the murderer will certainly be slain, 
violence and bloodshed will be increasing, until God's law 
is again honored. 

'Gen. ix. 3-6. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CAIN — PIEST CITY — POWER OP THE SEED OP THE SERPENT — 
FIRST POLYGAMY. 

AFTER " the Lord had set a mark upon Cain, lest any 
finding him should kill him ; Cain went out from the 
presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the 
east of Eden." 1 The land of Nod was so called from Nad — 
a vagabond, which Cain was thenceforth to be. Like all 
places, the resort of vagabonds, its population increased 
rapidly ; for nearly all of Adam's children were of that 
class. In the childhood of the world, as we have before 
noticed, the Lord manifested his presence in many ways. 
Cain went away from the place where the Lord was wor- 
shiped ; and where He thus revealed himself. 

The first city in the world was built by Cain. Yiolence 
and fear banded men together, and led them to fortify places 
to defend themselves, or from which they could go out to 
attack others. The pride of the bloody men called conquer- 
ors, also caused them to build the first cities, before and 
after the flood, and gave names to them. Cain called his 
city after the name of his son Enoch. 

It is worthy of remark, that for thousands of years the 
seed of the serpent, though under a curse, built the great 
cities, furnished the kings of the earth, and had the power 
of the world ; while the seed, to whom all blessings of this 
life and that to come were promised, had to live by faith ; 
as heirs of an inheritance not yet received. Cain, under a 
curse, became a ruler and built a city. The first great cities 

1 Gen. iv. 16. 
5 (65) 



66 FIRST THINGS. 

after the flood, Babylon, Nineveh, etc., 1 were built by Nim- 
rod, the mighty hunter, a mighty one in the ea,rth, although 
Nimrod was descended from Ham, who was under a curse ; 
and was, with his descendants, to be " a servant of servants, 
unto his brethren." 2 The descendants of Esau, who was 
hated of God and was to serve Jacob, furnished generations 
of dukes ruling cities ; while the descendants of Jacob, the 
seed of the promise, from whom kings were to be born, were 
in slavery in Egypt. There was some truth in the assertion 
of the Devil, while tempting our Lord, when he said, " All 
the power of the kingdoms of the world is delivered unto 
me ; " but he lied when he added, " And to whomsoever I 
will I give it.' 73 Pilate boasted to our Lord, " Knowest thou 
not that I have power to crucify thee ? " Jesus answered, 
" Thou couldest have no power against me, except it were 
given thee from above." 4 Pharaoh, while holding the chosen 
people in slavery, is told by the Lord, " Even for this pur- 
pose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in 
thee." 5 Happy are we that we know and can say to our 
Father in heaven, " Thine is the kingdom and the power." 

How long Cain lived we are not told. As the ground 
was not henceforth to yield her strength to him, like a vaga- 
bond he lived on others. According to Josephus, " He did 
not accept of his punishment in order to amendment, but to 
increase his wickedness ; for he only aimed to procure every 
thing that was for his own bodily pleasure, though it obliged 
him to be injurious to his neighbors. He augmented his 
household substance with much wealth by rapine and vio- 
lence ; he excited his acquaintance to procure pleasure and 
spoils by robbery ; and became a great leader of men into 
wicked courses. He also introduced a change in that way 
of simplicity wherein men lived before, and was the author 
of measures and weights. And whereas they lived inno- 

1 Gen. x. 8, 10, 11. 2 Gen. ix. 25. 3 Luke iv. G. 

4 John xix. 10. 5 Exod. ix. 16; Rom. ix. 17. 



CAIN. 67 

cently and generously while they knew nothing of such arts, 
he changed the world into cunning and craftiness. He first 
of all set boundaries about lands ; he built a city and forti- 
fied it with walls, and he compelled his family to come to- 
gether to it." An old Jewish tradition represents him as 
having at last become insane, in which state he wandered 
about more like a wild beast than a man. As in those days 
men lived nearly a thousand years, Cain doubtless had many 
descendants. Several of them became celebrated, as we 
shall see hereafter, for their inventions. 

Lamech, one of these descendants, is the first who is men- 
tioned as having taken unto him two wives. The changing 
of God's plan of marriage, and introducing polygamy and 
all its evils in its place, was a fit invention for a descend- 
ant of Cain. The natural fruits of polygamy we have al- 
ready noticed. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

FIRST INVENTIONS — FIRST MUSICIANS — FIRST ARTIFICERS — 
EARLY KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS. 

THE history of inventions is nearly coeval with the ex- 
istence of man, and forms a very important part of the 
history of the world ; as the Disposer of events has often 
produced great changes in the world by communicating the 
knowledge of " an invention" at a time suited to the accom- 
plishment of His purpose. We are too apt to lose sight of 
God, and of his special providence, in these so-called inven- 
tions. 1 We have also little idea of the vast provision which 
the beneficent Creator has made to supply our wants. Think, 
for instance, of the immense stores of iron, and also of coal, 
the use of which has only lately been discovered. See one 
little island, Great Britain, producing about eighty millions 
of tons of coal yearly ; yielding, besides many other things, 
almost enough coal and iron to form an island of respectable 
size every year ! Think again of the vast hidden power put 
in matter for the use of man ; that a pint of water and a 
pound of coal originate a power and sustain a motion which 
would soon wear out the human system of the strongest man ; 
and that with the aid of a little water and coal and iron, the 
labor of one individual is made equal to that of the combined 
efforts of two hundred and twenty-six persons. A steam 
engine of one hundred horse power is estimated as equal to 

1 Many thoughts were gathered for this chapter, making it almost a com- 
pilation from an interesting and able work by Rev. John Blakely, entitled 
" The Theology of Inventions, or Manifestations of the Deity in the Works 
of Art." 

(68) 



FIRST INVENTIONS. 69 

the strength of eight hundred and eighty men ; and the ma- 
chinery of Great Britain, as doing the work of five hundred 
millions of men. What a vast amount of human toil is thus 
mitigated, and of human misery alleviated ! What a won- 
derful provision to increase our comforts we find laid up in 
but a small part of the earth with larger supplies found 
elsewhere. 

When God blessed Adam and Eve in Eden, He gave them 
dominion over all creatures moving upon the earth ; and told 
them "to replenish the earth and subdue it." 1 He did the 
same to Noah and his sons immediately after the flood, say- 
ing, "into your hand are they delivered. 772 The animal and 
vegetable and mineral kingdoms were thus placed at man 7 s 
disposal. We go into a factory, and are content with being 
a little surprised at the sight of complicated machinery ; and 
with knowing that it is a cotton, woollen, or some other fac- 
tory. We are too often like the rustic, who can see nothing 
to admire in nature 7 s beauty. 

" The primrose by the river's brim 
A yellow primrose is to him, 
Arid it is nothing more." 

But examine the machinery, and we find the bowels of 
the earth have contributed iron or brass ; the surface of it 
has furnished wood or cotton and other vegetable products ; 
while the animal kingdom has furnished the leather, the bone, 
the hair, the grease, etc. These materials have no natural 
relation, no chemical affinities ; but drawn from three king- 
doms, they are by a mechanical combination made to assume 
a new form, and to accomplish a new purpose for man 7 s use 
and benefit. Then turn to the man who is called " the in- 
ventor ; 77 we have already noticed what a wonderful piece of 
mechanism he is : prepared to subdue the world ; not able 
to create ; yet with powers of body and of mind able to 

1 Genesis i. 28. 2 Genesis ix. 2. 



70 FIRST THINGS. 

make every thing else tributary to his wants and to his pleas- 
ure. The hand alone of the artisan is a combination of 
wonders : constructed to seize and handle bodies of every 
form and shape ; and with sensibilities so acute and so va- 
ried that a touch can almost determine their nature ; whether 
hard or soft, rough or smooth, fine or coarse, heavy or light, 
hot or cold. 

The earth being created as the theatre of redemption, it 
was prepared accordingly by the Creator and Redeemer : 
not only with all things necessary for man while upright in 
Eden, but also with those things which he so much needs in 
his fallen estate. The Fall was foreknown, and provision 
was made accordingly ; not only for the redemption of man, 
but for his wants while that redemption was being accom- 
plished. Materials were created with certain qualities and 
powers, all fixed in the mind and in the purpose of God. 
The knowledge how to use those materials has been imparted 
from time to time, by Him who " teacheth man knowledge," 
in such measure only, and at such times as He had determined 
before they were created. We need not be surprised, there- 
fore, that the uses of some things apparently the most simple, 
and of powers which have existed since creation, have been 
only lately discovered. God had so willed it. The art of 
navigation was known to the ancients ; but for thousands of 
years they had to keep near shore and make short voyages, 
until a few centuries since, when the use of the mariner's 
compass was discovered, and a way across the oceans opened. 
Yet the polarity of the magnet existed from creation ; and 
iron was known shortly after the fall. 1 The steam engine in 
its elementary principles has also existed since the beginning. 
The water, the fire, and the minerals, with the powers con- 
tained in them, were prepared and ready for use. Water 
could always be converted into steam ; and for thousands of 
years steam had shown its power in raising the lid of the 

1 Genesis iv. 22. 



FIRST INVENTIONS. 71 

teakettle, before the thought how to use that power was car- 
ried successfully into execution. The telegraph simply ap- 
plies a power which electricity has always possessed. The 
art of printing was imparted about the time of the Reforma- 
tion, to assist in spreading the kingdom of God. And it is a 
gratifying fact that the Bible was the first work printed with 
movable metal types. The Book containing God's message 
to man, which Popery had kept as a sealed volume for nearly 
a thousand years, was thus brought within the reach of all. 
No wonder that the sudden lowness of the price, and the 
multiplicity and uniformity of the copies, caused the first 
seller of them to fly for his life to avoid being executed for 
witchcraft. 

The knowledge of some of the greatest inventions has been 
imparted in our day, just as the time foretold in prophecy of 
the fall of the man of sin and of the false prophet is at hand, 
when the twelve hundred and sixty years spoken of are ex- 
piring, when Popery and Mohammedism are to come to an 
end, 1 and the " everlasting Gospel is to be preached to every 
nation and tongue." 2 Daniel was told that at the " time of 
the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
increased." 3 We are now seeing these great prophecies 
being fulfilled. The world has been opened to the Gospel, 
and its uttermost parts are brought near, through the knowl- 
edge given to man enabling him to subdue it. 

What tools Adam had in Paradise we do not know. Al- 
though thorns and thistles were not yet, as the ground was 
not yet cursed, 4 still he would have needed some tools to 
" dress the garden and to keep it ;" as well as to " subdue 
the earth." The first invention recorded is that of making 
clothes after the Fall. " They sewed fig leaves together and 
made themselves aprons." 5 God, however, provided a bet- 
ter material and condescended to teach them how to use it, 

1 Rev. xii. 6 ; xiii. 5 ; Dan. xii. 7. 2 Rev. xiv. 6 8. 

' Dan. xii. 4. 4 Gen. iii, 18. 6 Gen. iii. 7. 



72 FIKST THINGS. 

for " unto Adam and to his wife did the Lord God make 
coats of skins and clothed them." 1 " Cain was a tiller of the 
ground," and necessarily must have had some implements to 
do it with. Abel, when he " brought of the firstlings of his 
flock and of the fat thereof," 2 as an offering unto the Lord, 
must have used tools in preparing his sacrifice. Cain after- 
ward builded a city. 3 The preparation of the materials to 
build a city, the erection of buildings, and the necessary oc- 
cupation and wants of those living in cities, at once convey 
the idea of an advanced stage in knowledge of tools, of ma- 
chinery, and of the arts, even in that early age of the world. 

It is a truism, incidental, however, to fallen nature only, 
that " Necessity is the mother of invention." Had man not 
sinned, all his powers, created, as they were perfect, would 
have been constantly and joyfully alive and active with im- 
mortal energy. A blight, part of the " dying death," passed 
upon those powers at the Fall ; and it has required neces- 
sity, or the grace of God, to keep them alive. It is a curious 
fact, that the first inventions spoken of were after man had 
sinned ; and were to supply wants occasioned by sin : and 
also that the first inventors spoken of were of the descend- 
ants of Cain, and of the " seed of the serpent." 

In inventions, reason shows its superiority over animal 
instincts ; the latter making no progress. 

" The winged inhabitants of Paradise 
Wove their first nests as curiously and well 
As the wood minstrels of our evil day." 

Yet fallen man has doubtless been compelled to look to 
inferior creatures and receive suggestions from them. Using 
his reason, he will 

" The art of building from the bee receive, 
Learn of the mole to plow ; the worm to weave ; 
Learn of the little nautilus to sail, 
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." — Pope. 

1 Gen iii. 21. 2 Gen. iv. 4. a Gen. iv. 11. 




I ROM A PAINTING , K)UND IN A TOMB A! THEBES. 




EGYPTIAN ENTERTAINMENT (From a Painling in the British Museum ) 



E'.ndvooU. &. Co LiLh N.Y. 



FIRST INVENTIONS. 73 

However, in this, as in all other ways of obtaining knowl- 
edge, man is dependent upon God. He claims not only to 
have created the iron and the coal, but also the artificer. 
Speaking to His Church, He says : " Behold, I have created 
the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bring- 
eth forth an instrument for his work ; and I have created 
the waster to destroy." 1 The iron, the smith, the weapon 
formed, and the waster, are all His. He therefore can well 
add, " No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.' 72 

In the brief history of Cain and his descendants we have 
a record of several inventors and inventions, showing a great 
knowledge of the arts in the first days of the world ; and 
also that the luxuries of life, such as musical instruments, 
etc., were early introduced. Jabal " was the father of such 
as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle." 3 To be a 
father implies an originator or inventor. Abel had kept 
sheep ; but Jabal must have introduced some system in rear- 
ing and taking care of cattle, and also tents and tentmaking. 
Paul nearly four thousand years after worked as a tentmaker, 
being of that craft. 4 Jubal, a brother of Jabal, is recorded 
as being " the father of all such as handle the harp and the 
organ." 5 Both stringed and wind instruments are here 
spoken of ; and also a father or teacher of musical composi- 
tion and mechanical harmony. From Jubal probably comes 
the word jubilee, first celebrated with the sound of the trum- 
pet. The Psalmist, when calling upon all things that hath 
breath to praise the Lord, adds : " Praise him with stringed 
instruments and organs." 6 The seed of Cain first invented 
musical instruments ; though afterward used to assist in 
praising the Lord, it is a sad fact that the seed of the Ser- 
pent now often uses them, even in the Lord's house, for the 
very purpose of robbing Him of his praise. 

The next verse of the narrative shows us a much more 

1 Isaiah liv. 16. 3 Gen. iv. 20. 8 Gen. iv. 21. 

2 Isaiah liv. IT. 4 Acts xviii. 3. 6 Ps. cl. 4. 



74 FIRST THINGS. 

extensive knowledge of the arts and sciences. Tubal- Cain, a 
member of the same family, was " an instructer of every arti- 
ficer in brass and iron." * He is supposed to be the Vulcan 
of the ancients, one of their fictitious deities often mentioned. 
It is the same name, simply shortened ; and the occupations 
of both were the same. To be a teacher of every artificer, 
he must have had a thorough knowledge of ores and of 
metals ; of the art of smelting and of mixing them ; and of 
moulding or beating them into the required form : and also 
a considerable acquaintance with chemistry. By tradition, 
Vulcan was celebrated as a manufacturer of arms and ar- 
mor. As Tubal-Cain was a descendant of Cain, living among 
his followers, and the earth becoming filled with violence, 
we may well suppose that he introduced their manufacture 
and excelled in making them. 

A Jewish tradition ascribes to Naamah, sister of Tubal- 
Cain, the introduction of ornaments in female dress. It is 
not improbable that Cain's city was the Paris of the world, 
and that his children led the fashions, for it appears they 
drew all the world after them. 

We may infer from the simple directions given when the 
ark was built, that many things in relation to ship-building 
were then already known. The cities built shortly after the 
flood show that the arts had not been lost, but that the 
knowledge of them must have been preserved by those in 
the ark. The ruins of those cities surprise us with their 
magnitude and grandeur. The huge stones used in their 
buildings, the immense statues and columns of their temples, 
as also the pyramids, etc., show that they were accustomed 
to mammoth works. 

In the account of the preparation of the materials for the 
tabernacle, we have a comprehensive exposition of the arts 
in almost every department. " There was the hewing, saw- 
ing, planing, joining, carving and gilding of wood. There 

1 Genesis iv. 22. 



FIRST INVENTIONS. 75 

was the melting, casting, beating, boring, and engraving of 
metals. There was the spinning, weaving, dyeing, bleaching, 
sewing, and embroidering of fabrics ; the tanning and col- 
oring of skins. There was work in gold, silver, and brass ; 
in blue, purple, and scarlet ; in fine linen and in goats' hair. 
There was the polishing and engraving of precious stones," 
etc., etc. The Lord not only gave special directions how 
the tabernacle and every thing pertaining to it were to be 
made, but He also prepared and called the workmen : " The 
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name 
Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hut, of the tribe of Ju- 
dah ; and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wis- 
dom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all 
manner of workmanship." " And I, behold, I have given 
with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan : 
and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wis- 
dom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee." 1 
When we remember that all this was over three thousand 
years ago, and that nearly three thousand years before that 
there were teachers of the arts and of music in the family 
of Cain, we must acknowledge that in the early days of the 
world they knew more than we are apt to give them credit 
for. In fact the ancients were acquainted with arts which 
are now lost. Let us also bear in mind that a knowledge 
of the arts and civilization, have no power in themselves to 
purify the heart or to improve society. The descendants of 
Cain, while making the greatest progress in worldly knowl- 
edge, were growing greater monsters in crime. Education, 
without Christianity, makes men more powerful and more 
cunning in carrying out their evil designs, and therefore 
makes them more dangerous. 

2 Exodus xxxi. 2, 6. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CHURCH — ITS PRESERVATION A CONSTANT MIRACLE. 

LET us now turn to watch the progress of that perpetual 
wonder in the world, the Church : in which, above all 
other things, the Creator has always taken the greatest in- 
terest ; as a theatre for which He created the world ; that by 
it He might make known his manifold wisdom to principali- 
ties and powers in heavenly places. 1 The progress, the very 
existence of that church in the world, is a wonder. Its pres- 
ervation is a perpetual miracle : indeed, every soul added to 
it is such ; for that soul is " born again ;" 2 is raised from 
the dead ;" 3 and is a " new creation," 4 in which has been 
displayed " a working of the mighty power, of the exceeding 
greatness of the power" 5 of the Almighty. 

In looking back through the six thousand years of the 
world's history, we see a litle band, like a few straggling 
sheep journeying through a wilderness filled with wolves, 
weak, defenseless, tottering, surrounded by enemies, and at 
times so few in number that they are to be found only in a 
single family. It is the seed of the promise, reduced just 
before the flood to part of a family of eight persons, while 
the seed of the serpent numbered perhaps a thousand mil- 
lions. Out of the successive generations on the earth, they 
are for twenty-three hundred years to be found only in a 
single line from father to son ; and then for seventeen hun- 
dred years after, they count only a few in a single nation, 
out of the many nations of the world. 6 They were a very 

1 Eph. iii. 9. 3 Eph. ii. 1. 6 Eph. i. 19. 

4 John i. 13; iii. 3. " Eph. ii. 10; 2 Cor. v. 17. * Rom. ix. 6; xi. 3. 
(W) 



THE CHURCH. 77 

" little flock" ' in the time of our Saviour. And each mem- 
ber of that flock is so weak, so prone to sin and death, as to 
be continually forced to cry out, " wretched man that I 
am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" 2 
and yet so strong in the Lord as to be able at the same time 
to shout, " I thank God, which giveth us the victory, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord." 2 

We have seen the first member added to this flock mur- 
dered for his faith by his own brother. The record, four 
thousand years afterwards, in speaking of the faith and trials 
of some of the members of this flock, as during that long pe- 
riod it had been journeying through the world, hated by all 
men, says : " others were tortured not accepting deliverance ; 
that they might obtain a better resurrection : and others had 
trial, of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of 
bonds and imprisonments : they were stoned, they were sawn 
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword : they 
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins ; being desti- 
tute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not wor- 
thy) : they wandered in deserts," 3 etc., etc. Read the ex- 
perience of Paul before he was put to death ; what he calls 
" light affliction, being but for a moment, and working for 
him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
" We are troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast 
down, alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake ; in stripes 
above measure, in prisons frequent, in deaths oft. Of the 
Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice 
was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned," 4 etc., etc. We 
see from time to time the most powerful monarchs of the 
greatest empires of the world trying to annihilate them 
with fire and sword ; and if possible to blot out their 
very name from the earth. We see Satan and his angels, 
with increasing malignity, using all their arts to tempt, to 

1 Luke xii. 32. s Heb. xi. 35, 36. 

2 Rom. vii. 24, 25 ; 1 Cor. xv. 51. " 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9, 17 ; xi. 23 



78 FIEST THINGS. 

corrupt and destroy them ; at times to effect his purpose, 
getting " his children" J in possession of the high places of 
the visible church, and even entering himself into some of its 
members, 2 as he did when Jesus was betrayed. We see the 
visible church procuring the death of the Shepherd of this 
flock, then stoning Stephen under pretence of blasphemy ; 3 
and then causing a great persecution ; the high priest him- 
self for this purpose giving letters to a man " breathing out 
threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the 
Lord." 4 

We see antichrist in the church itself, having obtained 
power over the kingdoms of the world twelve hundred and 
sixty years, endeavoring to destroy the followers of the Lord 
Jesus wherever they could be found, by massacres, by wars, 
and by the inquisition. Truly, long since would the church 
have disappeared from the earth, and all knowledge of God 
been banished from it, and the world have become a hell, had 
not God in his sovereignty and his mercy determined other- 
wise. As ten righteous men would have saved Sodom, 5 so 
the presence of the Church of Jesus Christ, " the salt of the 
earth," 6 now saves the world. When the last member of it 
is gathered in, the world will be burned up. 

We see all this malice of the seed of the serpent overruled 
and even made subservient to God's purposes of saving and 
extending his church. " Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the 
Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 
against the Lord and against his Christ, for to do what- 
soever God's hand and counsel determined before to be 
done." 7 

We see the provision made for the salvation of that 
church by the Saviour giving himself for her : and then giv- 
ing her His Word, the ministry, and the sacraments for her 
edification. We see that there always has been but one true 

1 John viii. 44. 2 Luke xxii. 3. 3 Acts vi. 13. * Acts ix. 1. 

5 Gen. xviii. 32. e Matt. v. 13. T Acts iv. 26, 28 ; ii. 23 ; viii. 4. 



THE CHURCH. 79 

church, and but one way of salvation from the beginning ; 
and that is by faith in the testimony of God and in the sac- 
rifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

That church has always had a government and a form of 
worship which separated it from the world ; making it a 
visible church. The members of it in all ages have been 
known as the Lord's people ; and have " called themselves 
by the name of the Lord." ' They now call themselves after 
His name, Christians. 2 The true members of that church — 
" for they are not all Israel which are of Israel" 3 — are called 
" the chosen," " the elect," " the sons of God ;" " the sheep for 
whom the Shepherd laid down his life," 4 and whom He leads 
through the wilderness " like a flock," 5 etc., etc. While Cain 
and the seed of the serpent have always fled from the face 
of the Loed, the church has always enjoyed the special mani- 
festations of His presence : sometimes visibly, as in the cloud 
in the wilderness, and when " God was manifest in the 
flesh." 6 He has said, " Where' two or three are gathered to- 
gether in my name, there am I in the midst of them," 7 " Lo, 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 8 
After the ascension of our Lord, the Holy Ghost the promised 
Comforter, came to abide with the flock for ever. 9 And since 
the day of Pentecost the Church has enjoyed His presence 
and His teachings. Every true member of it is a " temple 
of the Holy Ghost," 10 and has angels ministering to him or 
her : for the angels are " sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation." u Even heaven was created for 
them : for at the judgment " the King shall say unto them, 
Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world." 12 

1 Gen. iv. 26, margin. 5 Ps. lxxviii. 52. 9 John xiv. 16, 26. 

2 Acts xi. 26. 6 1 Tim. iii. 16. 10 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; vi. 19. 
8 Rom. ix. 6. * Matt, xviii. 20. u Heb. i. 14. 

4 John x. 15. 8 Matt, xxviii. 20. w Matt. xxv. 34. 



80 FIEST THINGS. 

Happy flock ! amid all your trials, temptations, and suffer- 
ings, while 

" Marching through Immanuel's ground, 
To fairer worlds on high," 

ye may well " rejoice, and be exceeding glad ; and leap for 
joy, when men shall hate you, and revile you, and persecute 
you, for the son of man's sake." ' " Fear not, little flock, for 
it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." 2 

" Weak as you are, you shall not faint, 
Or, fainting, shall not die ; 
Jesus, the strength of every saint, 
Will aid you from on high." 

" All things work together for your good." 3 Because you 
are "children of God, then heirs:" 4 "all things are yours; 
and ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's ;" 5 The Creator is 
your Redeemer and Saviour. You may well exclaim, " If 
God be for us, who can be against us ? Who shall lay any 
thing to the charge of God's elect ?" 6 

1 Matt. v. 12 ; Luke vi. 23. s Rom. viii. 28. 5 1 Cor. iii. 22. 

a Luke xii. 32. 4 Rom. viii. IV. 8 Rom. viii. 31, 33. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

FIEST GATHERING OF THE CHUECH — VISIBLE CHUECH, CHIL- 
DREN AND SLAVES MEMBEES — FIEST PUBLIC WOESHIP — 
FIEST EEVIVAL OF EELIGION — FIEST PEAYEE MEETING. 

W"E have seen the first step in gathering the Church ; 
" God called unto Adam" while he was trying to flee 
from him. He also called Abraham : " by faith Abraham, 
when he was called to go out into a place which he should 
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." 1 He called and 
converted Paul, when full of hatred he was seeking to de- 
stroy the Church. 2 The Scripture says, " Whom He did pre- 
destinate, them He also called." 3 The Gospel is now the 
call of God. The next step was the commencement of reve- 
lation, the promise of the great Deliverer ; the Seed of the 
woman which was to bruise the head of the serpent ; 4 prom- 
ises, prophecies, and commandments, being afterwards added 
from time to time until the word of God was complete ; and 
a curse recorded against any man who should add to it. 5 
Then came public worship ; and, as an act of faith, the offer- 
ing of a lamb in sacrifice : and a lamb was slain continually 
in the Church of God from the time of Abel's sacrifice for 
the space of four thousand years ; until He who was " the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," 6 " a lamb with- 
out blemish and without spot ; who verily was foreordained 
before the foundation of the world," 7 was offered on Calvary. 
Since then, the Lord's supper commemorates the same sacri- 
fice ; and is, by way " of remembrance," " to show the Lord's 

1 Heb. xi. 8. 2 Acts ix. 4. 3 Rom. viii. 30 ; i. 6. 4 Gen. iii. 15. 
6 Rev. xxii. 18. 6 Rev. xiii. 8. * 1 Peter i. 19. 

6 (81) 



82 FIRST THINGS. 

death till he come.' 71 The reading of the word of God, 
preaching, prayer, and praise, have also always formed part 
of public worship. 

The visible church, according to God's own appointment, 
has always embraced not only his people, but their house- 
holds : their children and their slaves. God said unto Abra- 
ham " Thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after 
thee in their generations." 2 " He that is born in thy house, 
or bought with thy money must needs be circumcised." 3 
And he that is not, " that soul shall be cut off from his peo- 
ple ; he hath broken my covenant." 4 " The Lord said unto 
Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the passover : 
There shall no stranger eat thereof : but every man's servant 
that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, 
then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and a hired servant 
shall not eat thereof." 5 When the Jews were separated 
from other nations, as the visible church of God, the stranger 
that wished to unite with them could do so. For circumcis- 
ion and the feast of the Passover there was " one ordinance 
both for the stranger and for him that was born in the 
land :" 6 as now, the stranger born out of the visible church 
may be baptized and partake of the Lord's Supper. In all 
generations the covenant of the Lord has been, " I will be a 
God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." 7 The children 
of our first parents were therefore named in faith, and were 
trained to make offerings to God. God's covenant with 
Abraham and his descendants brought a whole nation into the 
communion of the visible church, and made them his peculiar 
people. Throughout the Old and New Testaments they were 
directed to teach their children the reason for the sacra- 
ments ; as showing God's wonderful works in saving his peo- 
ple. 8 God's statutes and commandments were " to them, 

1 1 Cor. x'i. 25. 2 Gen. xvii. 9. 3 Gen. xvii. 12, 13. 4 Gen. xvii. 14. 

6 Exod. xii. 44, 45. 6 Num. ix. 14 ; Exod. xii. 48. 

T Gen. xvii. 1 ; Acts ii. 30 : 1 Cor. vii. 14. 8 Ex. xiii. 8, 14 : Deut. iv. 9. 



FIRST PUBLIC WORSHIP. 83 

their sons, and their sons' sons : 77 and they were to " teach 
them to their children diligently ;" 1 and to " bring up their 
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord :" 2 not 
to it, but as already in it. Thus we find Abraham, Jacob, 
Joshua, etc., circumcising and consecrating their households ; 
likewise, the jailer at Philippi " was baptized, and all his 
straightway ;" 3 also Lydia and her household, 4 and the 
" household of Stephanas. 77 5 

In all ages God has required from his people a public rec- 
ognition of •the covenant made with them and their seed. 
The Jewish child was in early infancy to be publicly brought 
into covenant with the visible church by the sacrament of 
circumcision ; as the child of the Christian is now by bap- 
tism. If he forebore to join in the celebration of the Pass- 
over feast when grown, he was to be " cut off from among his 
people. 77 6 

The first public worship, and the first revival of religion 
mentioned, was at the birth of Enos, the son of Seth, born 
when Adam was two hundred and thirty-five years old. 
" Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. 77 7 In 
the margin it reads " men began to call themselves by the 
name of the Lord. 77 They acknowledged the Lord as their 
God ; and called themselves, and were called by Him, his 
people. They felt their dependence on God ; and Seth 
named his son accordingly, Enosh, man in iveakness. Indi- 
vidually, Adam, Abel, and Seth, had before this called upon 
the Lord with their sacrifices. Adam had begotten sons and 
daughters ; they also had been multiplying ; and as they 
grew up had forsaken the worship and the face of the Lord. 
When Enos of the third generation was born, there appears 
to have been the first public gathering of the visible church. 
It could have consisted only of Adam, Eve, and such of their 
younger children as they could control, and Seth and his 

1 Deut. vi. 2, 7. 2 Eph. vi. 4. 3 Acts xvi. 33. 4 Acts xvi. 15. 

6 1 Cor. i. 16. G Num. ix. 13. T Gen. iv. 26. 



84 FIRST THINGS. 

family. Possibly some of Adam's other children may have 
joined them ; but from the record it is doubtful : if they 
did, they could not have continued with them, as it appears 
the whole world, excepting those named in the one line of 
father to son, became corrupt. 

They began to " call upon the name of the Lord ;" it was 
the beginning of prayer-meetings. The names which the 
Lord has assumed, such as, the Almighty, the Lord thy God, 
the Father, Jesus, the Saviour, the Comforter, the God of 
Jacob, the Hearer of Prayer, etc., etc., not only make known 
to us His nature, attributes, and covenant relationship with 
His people, but they are also the foundation of their prayers. 
In all ages the Lord's people have called upon His name : 
relying upon His promises, that when they gather together 
in His name, " He will be in the midst of them," ' and " that 
whatsoever they ask in His name, He will do it." 2 

1 Matt, xviii. 20. s John xiv. 13, 14. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

FIRST CONSECRATION OF PROPERTY — FIRST PROPHETS — FIRST 
TRANSLATION OF THE BODY — FIRST PREACHERS. 

THE giving or consecration of property to the Lord, 
was connected with and was part of the first act of 
worship. Cain, " a tiller of the ground, brought of the fruit 
of the ground an offering unto the Lord." Abel, a keeper of 
sheep, " brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat 
thereof." The sacrifices were of their most valuable prop- 
erty. How early the custom of devoting one tenth to the 
Lord was introduced we cannot tell. Abraham " gave tithes 
of all" to Melchizedek, " the priest of the most high God," x 
more than four hundred years before the Lord claimed the first 
born " among the children of Israel, both of man or beast," 
saying : "It is mine:" 2 beside demanding a tenth "of the pro- 
duce of the land, of the fruit of the tree, of the herd and of the 
flock." 3 Jacob vowed a vow, saying, " If God will be with 
me," etc., " of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the 
tenth unto thee." 4 The church in the time of the Jews, in 
addition to the tenth, were directed to give the first fleece and 
the first fruits of the land ; 5 and also to offer many particu- 
lar sacrifices beside their free-will offerings. 6 They were 
constantly to remember the Levites, as the Lord's ministers 
who had no portion in the land ; and also to consider the 
poor. Three times each year, at their great feasts, every 
male was to appear before the Lord in the appointed place* 
and the charge to them was, " They shall not appear before 

1 Gen. xiv. 18, 20. 3 Levit. xxvii. 30, 32. 6 Deut. xviii. 4. 

8 Exod. xiii. 2. 4 Gen. xxviii. 20, 22. 6 Ezra iii. 5. 

(85) 



86 FIRST THINGS. 

the Lord empty : every man shall give as he is able, accord- 
ing to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given 
thee." l One of the first acts recorded of the church after 
the ascension of Christ, was selling their possessions and 
laying the proceeds down at the apostles' feet. 2 The com- 
mand of the Lord now is, " Upon the first day of the week 
let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath pros- 
pered him," 3 for the Lord's use : an offering willingly made 
by the renewed heart of the redeemed, whose first cry con- 
strained by a Saviour's love is, " Lord what wilt thou have 
me to do ?" 4 

Prophesying was early in the church. In fact, every be- 
liever in the first promise was a living witness, by his life 
and his manner of worship, for a Saviour to come. " For 
the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 5 Special 
revelations, however, were made to the church, from time to 
time, giving clearer views of God's sovereignty and of his 
purposes. Prophets were raised up to comfort the church 
and increase her faith ; and, as we shall see hereafter, fore- 
telling the destruction of the powerful empires of this world, 
as well as that of all sinners in the world to come. The first 
specially mentioned as a prophet is Enoch, born in the seventh 
generation, in the year 622. He prophesied of " the coming 
of the Lord with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judg- 
ment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among 
them of all their ungodly deeds, and of all their hard speeches 
which they have spoken against him." 6 He doubtless re- 
ferred to the coming flood, as well as to the last great day. 

Enoch not only thus prophesied of the judgment, and that 
" them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him ;" 7 
but he was himself also a witness to the resurrection of the 
body : for after walking with God till he was three hundred 
and sixty-five years old, when he had lived only about one 

1 Deut. xvi. 16. 2 Acts ii. 45, iv. 35. s 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 4 Acts ix. 6. 
5 Rev. xix. 10. c Jude 15. T 1 Thess. iv. 14. 



FIRST PEEACHEBS. 87 

third of the usual length of men's lives in those days, " by 
faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death ; and 
was not found, because God had translated him : for before 
his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." J 
There was a proof of the glorious change to take place in 
the bodies of believers in each important era of the Church ; 
Enoch in the patriarchal, Elijah in the Jewish or prophetical, 
and the Saviour and the bodies of the saints raised after his 
resurrection, in the Gospel era. 

Preaching has always been in the Church. The patriarchs 
were not only the priests, elders, and rulers in the church, 
but were the teachers of the children. 2 In the Jewish church, 
in lieu of the first born sons, the Lord took the tribe of Levi, 
and the Levites were specially consecrated to the Lord's 
service. Part of their duty was to preach ; they were " to 
teach Jacob God's judgments, and Israel his law :" 3 " they 
taught all Israel :" 4 " they read in the book in the law of 
God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to un- 
derstand the reading." 5 We wonder when we think that 
for four thousand years the knowledge of the true God, and 
of the way of salvation by faith, was confined to the line of 
a single family and to a single nation : that thousands of 
millions of men, in successive generations, had died without 
God and without hope, before the injunction was given to 
the Church, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gos- 
pel to every creature." 6 We can only say, " Even so, Father : 
for so it seemed good in thy sight." 7 Yet when we consider 
men's hatred to God, to the Gospel, and to those who preach 
it, we are the more surprised that it is sent to them at all. 

Enoch must have preached when he prophecied. Noah is 
expressly spoken of, as " a preacher of righteousness." 8 His 
preaching, however, was only a constant " savour of death 

1 Heb. xi. 5. 3 Deut. xxxiii. 10. 6 ~Neh. viii. 8. 

J Gen. xvii, 23; xviii. 19. * 2 Chron. xxxv. 3. c Mark xvi. 15. 

7 Matt. xi. 26. e 2 Peter ii. 5 ; 1 Peter iii. 19, 20. 



06 FIRST THINGS. 

unto death ;" 1 for it is worthy of notice that he preached 
and warned men a hundred and twenty years, while building 
the ark, without to our knowledge making a single convert. 
In gathering his elect, " it pleased God by the foolishness of 
preaching to save them that believe." 2 For " faith cometh 
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." 3 Paul asks, 
"How shall they believe in him of whom they have not 
heard ? and how shall they hear without a preacher." 3 It is 
a fearful fact that the Gospel is also to be preached as a tes- 
timony against men ; as it was in the days of Noah, and 
when it was preached to Chorazin and Bethsaida ; although, 
as then, men will reject it. Our Lord says, " this gospel of 
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." 4 

The Lord's word to Ezekiel, when He sent by him a mes- 
sage to the visible church, is remarkable : showing that 
the duty of preachers, as " ambassadors for Christ," is sim- 
ply from their heart to deliver His message, and leave the 
results with Him. The Lord said unto Ezekiel, " Get thee 
unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto 
them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech, 
and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel. Surely, 
had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto 
thee. But the house of Israel ivill not hearken unto ihee.\ 
" Fear them not, neither be dismayed ; all my words that. I 
shall speak unto thee receive into thine heart, and speak unto 
them and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God : whether they 
will hear, or whether they will forbear." 5 

2 Cor. ii. 16. 2 1 Cor. i. 21. 3 Rom. x. 14, 17. 

4 Matt xxiv. 14. 6 Ezek. Hi. 4 to 11. 



-CHAPTER XXIII. 

FIRST LENGTH OF HUMAN LIFE INCREASE OF POPULATION 

AND DECREASE OF THE CHURCH MIXED MARRIAGES — 

FIRST GIANTS — GIGANTIC ANIMALS. 

A VERY remarkable feature of the period before the 
flood was the extraordinary length of men's lives. 
They lived nearly a thousand years. Had men continued to 
live that long, the fathers of the men now living might have 
conversed with the Saviour when he was on the earth, and 
their great-grandfathers could almost have talked with 
Adam. We have a record of but a few persons who lived 
before the flood, and those in two distinct lines only : that 
of some of the descendants of Cain, the age of none of 
whom is given, and that of Seth and some of his descend- 
ants, probably not the oldest sons, but such as were chosen 
to be the seed of the promise and to be the progenitors of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, equal however 
to a longer life, as he never was a child. Methuselah, whose 
age is the longest recorded, lived nine hundred and sixty- 
nine years. Most of the others lived nearly as long. Noah 
was six hundred years old at the time of the flood, and lived 
three hundred and fifty years after it, making his age at the 
time of his death nine hundred and fifty years. He was 
probably the oldest man that has been in the world since the 
flood ; as after it men's lives were gradually shortened, until 
Moses, a few generations afterward, was constrained to write, 

(89) 



90 FIRST THINGS. 

" The days of our years are three-score years and ten ; and 
if by reason of strength they be four-score years, yet is their 
strength labor and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly 
away." 1 However, the life even of Methuselah was only as 
a dream or a vapor ; for it is as easy to look back a thou- 
sand years as eighty, they are both as yesterday when they 
are past. The record, in the fifth chapter of Genesis, of the 
lives of the patriarchs before the flood is wonderfully 
concise. 

The increase of the population of the world before the 
flood must have been very rapid. Jacob's descendants in- 
creased, while in Egypt, only two or three hundred years, to 
millions. What must have been the population of the world, 
when men lived nearly a thousand years begetting sons and 
daughters ! 

The church diminished in numbers as the world increased 
in population. The patriarchs saw the millions of their 
descendants, with one or two exceptions, in one immense, 
continuous stream, separating themselves from God, joining 
the children of the world, and going to perdition. Methu- 
selah, Noah's grandfather, who died the year of the flood, 
lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after his son 
Lamech was born, and " begat sons and daughters." " Lam. 
ech lived after he begat Noah five hundred and ninety-five 
years, and begat sons and daughters." Noah must therefore 
have had a vast number of brothers and sisters, uncles, 
aunts, and cousins, religiously trained ; they, with their child- 
ren and their children's children, probably numbered millions 
when Noah entered the ark, yet not one of them was saved. 
Truly, " they which are the children of the flesh, these are 
not the children of God," 2 even although they enjoy the 
benefits pertaining to " the adoption, and the glory, and the 
covenants, and the service of God, and the promises, and the 
fathers, of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is 

'Psalm xc. 10. 2 Rom. ix. 8. 



FIRST GIANTS. 91 

over all God blessed for ever. Amen." 1 With all these 
advantages, how many have perished ! 

The Bible history gives one reason for the apostacy of the 
children of the church. The people, or sons of God, married 
with the children of the world, or unbelievers. " The sons 
of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and 
they took them wives of all which they chose." 2 This led 
them to worldliness, to idolatry, and to destruction. Such 
marriages have always been forbidden by the Lord. We 
have already noticed that, to avoid this, Abraham and Isaac 
sought wives for their children from among their relatives ; 
and also that the Lord gave a reason to the Jews, when for- 
bidding them to let their children contract marriages with 
the heathen : — " For they will turn away thy son from fol- 
lowing me, that they may serve other gods : so will the an- 
ger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee 
suddenly." 3 By these marriages, and the fruits of them, the 
Lord was provoked, and " said, My Spirit shall not always 
strive with man ; " remembering, however, " he is flesh," in 
his mercy he added, " yet his days shall be an hundred and 
twenty years:" 4 thus foretelling the destruction of the 
world and giving space, all that time, for repentance, till the 
ark was built. The flood, however, came without one of 
them repenting, believing, or being saved. 

Some of the children of these mixed marriages became 
mighty men, men of renown ; and, as is generally the case 
with those who sin against light and knowledge, they became 
giants or monsters in iniquity and crime. 

" There were giants in the earth in those days." We read 
also of families and even nations of giants among the 
descendants of Noah after the flood — men of great stature 
and strength. The spies, sent by Moses to explore the land 
of Canaan, said, " We saw giants, the sons of Anak, which 
come of the giants ; and we were in our own sight as grass- 

'Rom. ix. 4. 2 Gen. vi. 2. 3 Deut. vii 3, 4. 4 Gen. vi. 3. 



92 FIRST THINGS. 

hoppers, and so we were in their sight." 1 The Lord gave 
to the Ammonites for a possession a land previously " occu- 
pied by giants ; a people great, and many, and tall, called 
Zamzummims : " 2 and He gave to the Moabites the land of the 
Emims, also " accounted giants." The iron bedstead of Og 
the king of Bashan, one of the remnants of giants, is des- 
cribed as being nine cubits, or about fifteen feet, long, and 
four cubits, or about six feet, wide. 3 Goliath, slain by David, 
was about ten feet high. Since his time men have occasion- 
ally attained to about the same height. Climate and food 
will change the size of men and animals. Some of the Pat- 
agonians now would be giants to the Laplanders. As the 
term giants is applied only to a few, it is probable that men 
before the flood did not differ much from those after it, either 
in size or wickedness. 

•The fossil remains of gigantic animals, some of which are 
probably antediluvian, are frequently discovered buried in 
the earth, and they may be seen in the various museums. 
Some of these apparently belong to species the whole race of 
which is extinct. They may have been destroyed by the 
flood, or by violent convulsions of the earth causing a chauge 
of climate. Some of them may have been exterminated by 
the smaller animals, or by man. As the earth becomes more 
populous, and is subdued by man, it is likely other large 
animals, which man may not want to use, will disappear 
from it. 

Note. — Prepared restorations of many of these animals, as they are 
sujjposed to have appeared, are exhibited at the Crystal Palace, Sy- 
denham. From copies of these, the annexed plate has been prepared. 
Some of the largest of them are — 

The Iguanodon. A gigantic Lizard, estimated length, thirty to 
sixty feet. 

The Megalosaurus. Another Lizard, supposed to have been car- 
niverous, and probably twenty-five to thirty feet long. 

'Numb. xiii. 33. 2 Deut. ii. 20. 3 Deut. iii. 11. 



GIGANTIC ANIMALS. 93 

The Hylmosaurus. A combination of the Crocodile and Lizard, 
covered with scales, and having a row of long spines along the back. 
Length twenty to thirty feet. 

The Ichthyosaurus. According to Mantell, " had the beak of a por- 
poise, the teeth of a crocodile, the head and sternum of a lizard, and 
the paddle of a whale." 

The Plesiosaurus. Having the head of a lizard, the teeth of a 
crocodile, a neck of enormous length, like the body of a serpent, a 
body and tail of the proportions of an ordinary quadruped, and the 
paddles of a turtle or whale. Length twelve or fifteen feet. 

The Glyptvdon. A gigantic Armadillo, about fourteen feet long. 

The Megatherium. A gigantic Sloth, much larger than the ele- 
phant ; its body about twelve feet long and eight feet high ; its feet 
were more than three feet long, and terminated by immense claws. 

The Dinotherium. A gigantic Tapir, much larger than the Mam- 
moth ; supposed length eighteen feet. 

The Mastodon or Mammoth. In the year 1800, the remains of one, 
with the flesh on, was discovered in the ice in Northern Russia. It 
was covered with reddish wool and with hair eight inches long. 
The skeleton, now in St. Petersburg, is nine and a half feet high, and 
the body sixteen feet in length. It must have been twice the size of 
the existing elephant. For some years the flesh of this animal was 
cut off for dog-meat by the people around, and bears, wolves and 
foxes fed upon it until the skeleton was cleared of its flesh. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

THE FIRST VESSEL — FIRST DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD — THE 
DELUGE — CRADLE OF THE WORLD AND OF THE CHURCH. 



6 £ /^i OD saw the wickedness of man was great in the 
\JT earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts 
of his heart was only evil continually." " The earth was 
filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and 
behold it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way 
upon the earth." 1 It would be so now, were it not for the 
grace of God. There was, however, one exception : all had 
gone astray, " but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 
He was a just man, and walked with God." 2 The Lord 
communicated to him the fact that He was about to destroy 
all that lived upon the earth ; and directed him to build an 
ark in a certain manner and of a certain size. Noah 
believed God, for " by faith Noah, being warned of God of 
things not seen as yet, prepared an ark to the saving of his 
house ; by the which he condemned the world, and became 
heir of the righteousness which is by faith." 3 

The Ark is the first vessel spoken of, although it is likely 
small boats had been previously built. It was several times 
larger than any vessel ever known, until the late wonder, the 
" Great Eastern," was built. The length, breadth, and 
height of both these vessels do not vary much ; but the Ark 
must have had much greater capacity, as it was built squarer, 

1 Gen. vi. 5, 11. 2 Gen. vi. 8, 9. 3 Heb. xi. 1. 

(94) 



THE FIRST VESSEL. 95 

being designed simply to float on the water and to carry a 
large cargo, while the Great Eastern tapers at the ends and 
toward the keel, to give her speed. The cubit is variously 
estimated from seventeen and one-half to nearly twenty-two 
inches. Estimating it at the latter, the Ark was about five 
hundred and forty-seven feet long, ninety-one feet wide, and 
fifty-five feet high. 

We can easily imagine how much ridicule the Ark must 
have excited while it was building. Had there been lunatic- 
asylums in those days, Noah would probably have been shut 
up in one, and other persons put in charge of his property. 
To build the Ark and to provide a year's supply of " of all 
food that is eaten " not only took the labor of one hundred 
and twenty years, but must also have required a very large 
sum of money. When Lot urged his sons-in-law to escape 
with him from Sodom, he appeared unto them " as one that 
mocked," and was treated as such. We are told that there 
will be scoffers in the last days before the world is destroyed 
the second time by fire. 1 Seeing such an immense vessel 
building far away from the sea, which of us would not have 
attempted to sneer ? Hear one say, Well, old man, when 
are you going to launch her ? How much are you going to 
ask for a passage ? Hear another exclaim, " He thinks he is 
elected to be saved and the rest of the world is to be damned ; 
I am thankful I don't believe in so unmerciful a God." The 
constant preaching of Noah, his godly, self-denying life, and 
his steady, continued efforts in following God's directions, so 
that he and his family might be saved, must have made some 
serious at times, and perhaps made some try to do some good 
works to buy God's favor in case a flood should come. The mir- 
acle of all kinds of animals, birds, creeping things, &c, going 
" two and two unto Noah into the ark " must have caused some 
to wonder for a moment. Some even may have felt a little 
solemn, when all had gone in, with Noah, and his wife, and 

1 2 Peter iii. 3. 



96 FIRST THINGS. 

his sons, and their wives ; and " the Lord had shut him in." 1 
Happy is it for the people of God that they " are kept by 
the power of God through faith unto salvation,' 72 " their lives 
hid with Christ in God." 3 It is well for them that the Lord 
shuts them in, otherwise they would not stay there. The 
mass of the world, however, went on as usual ; " eating and 
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day 
that Noah entered into the ark." 4 " The same day were all 
the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows 
of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth 
forty days and forty nights." Doubtless some began to be 
frightened when it began to rain ; while others perhaps 
laughed at them, saying, We have seen it rain before. 
Doubtless, as the storm and the waters rose, many began to 
pray ; but it was too late. Perhaps some of Noah's carpen- 
ters begged to be admitted into the ark, urging that they 
had helped to build it. What other reply could he make to 
them, but, You were paid for it ; I can not save you. They 
who are now helping to build churches and spread the gos- 
pel, without seeking to be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, may well ponder the question, " What became of 
Noah's carpenters ? " 

In forty days the waters had risen fifteen cubits, or about 
twenty-three feet, above the highest mountains ; which would 
be, on an average, a rise of about seven hundred feet each 
day. " And all flesh died ; every living substance was des- 
troyed that was upon the face of the ground, and the fowl 
of the heaven. And the waters prevailed on the earth an 
hundred and fifty days." 5 

There is no fact in history better attested, independent of 
the Word of God, than the flood ; and none more universally 
acknowledged by all nations. Many evidences of it exist at 
the present day. The highest mountains, in every part of 

'Gen. vii. 16. 2 I Peter i. 5. 3 Col. iii. 3. 

4 Matt. xxiv. 3^. 5 Gen. vii. 23. 



CRADLE OF THE WORLD. 97 

the earth where search has been made, furnish abundant 
proofs that the sea has spread over their summits, shells, 
skeletons of fish and sea monsters being found on them. 
The universality of the flood is shown by the fact that the 
remains of animals are found buried far from their native 
regions. Elephants, natives of Asia and Africa, have been 
found buried in the midst of England ; crocodiles, natives of 
the Nile, in the heart of Germany ; shell-fish never known 
in any but the American seas, and also skeletons of whales? 
in the most inland counties of England, &c. 

The waters, after prevailing on the earth one hundred and 
fifty days, began slowly to return to their accustomed chan- 
nels. In a short time the ark rested upon the mountains of 
Ararat, in Armenia ; and some months after that, when the 
earth was dried, Noah and his family, who had been just one 
year in the ark, went out of it to take possession of a new 
world. Western Asia thus became a second time the birth- 
place of the human family. This region, a small spot on the 
world's surface, was not only the cradle of two worlds, but 
also of the Church. While the rest of the world was left 
in spiritual darkness, it enjoyed the special manifestations 
of God's presence, and the revelations of his will, continu- 
ously for four thousand years, until the Creator more signally 
honored it by making it the place of his residence while in 
the flesh. 

" A circle, with its center at Haran, and a radius of four 
hundred miles, will embrace Eden and Ararat ; Babylon and 
Nineveh, the early seats of learning and science ; Mesopota- 
mia, where God revealed himself to Abraham ; Phoenicia, 
where commerce and many of the arts of peace arose ; and 
Palestine, the birth-place of the prophets, apostles, and evan- 
gelists innumerable, and the scene of the birth, labors, and 
death of our blessed Lord. Over this wonderful district, 
where life was once so abundant, darkness and death have 
brooded for centuries." 
7 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, BEFORE THE FLOOD, ACCORDING TO 
ARCHBISHOP USHER. 

From the Creation to the Deluge, Sixteen Hundred and 
Fifty-six Years. 

A. M. B. C. 

1 4004 The creation of all things in six days. 

The fall of Adam, and the promise of a Saviour. 

2 4003 The birth of Cain. 

Birth of Abel. 

129 3875 Murder of Abel, and curse on Cain. 

130 3874 Birth of Seth, Adam his father being 130 

years old. 
235 3769 Enos born. Seth 105 years old. Revival of 
religion. Visible Church formed, and called 
by the Lord's name. 
Cainan born, Enos his father 90 years old. 
Mahalaleel born, when Cainan is 70. 
Jared born, when Mahalaleel is 65. 
Enoch born, Jared being 162. 
Methuselah born, Enoch being 65. 
Lamech, father of Noah, born, Methuselah be- 
ing 187 and Adam 874 years old. 
930 3074 Adam dies, aged 930 years. Lamech, father 
of Noah, having lived 56 years cotemporary 
with Adam. 
987 3017 Enoch is translated, aged 365 years. 
1042 2962 Seth dies, aged 912 years. 
1056 2948 Noah is born, Lamech his father being 182. 

(98) 



325 


3679 


395 


3609 


460 


3544 


622 


3382 


687 


3317 


874 


3130 



CHEONOLOGICAL TABLE. 99 

A. M. B. C 

1140 2864 Enos dies, aged 905 years. 

1235 2769 Cainan dies, aged 910 years. 

1290 2714 Mahalaleel dies, aged 895 years. 

1422 2582 Jared dies, aged 962 years. 

1536 2468 Deluge foretold. Noah commanded to build 
the ark 120 years before the flood came, and 
preaches that time. 

1556 2448 Japhet born, his father Noah being 500 years 
old. 

1558 2446 Shem, the second son of Noah, born. 

1560 2444 Ham, third son of Noah, born. 

1651 2353 Lamech, father of Noah, dies, aged 777. 

1656 2348 Methuselah, the oldest man, dies, aged 969 
years. In the same year, and in the six 
hundredth year of Noah's age, the flood 
comes upon the earth and destroys all living 
on it excepting those with Noah in the ark. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

FIEST THING DONE AFTER THE FLOOD — FLESH FIRST GIVEN 
FOR FOOD — FIRST OCCUPATION — FIRST DRUNKENNESS. 

SATED from the wreck of a world, the first thing Noah 
did after leaving the ark was to build an altar unto 
the Lord, and offer burnt offerings on it. These sacrifices, 
like Abel's, were with the shedding of blood ; and as Abel's, 
they were accepted by the Lord as " a sweet savour." 1 He 
said, " I will not again curse the ground any more for man's 
sake ; for (or though) the imagination of man's heart is 
evil from his youth ; neither will I again smite any more 
every living thing as I have done." He added, " While the 
earth remaineth," seed-time and harvest, etc., shall not cease. 
Thus, immediately after the flood, an intimation was given 
that the earth itself was to remain for a certain time only. 
The rainbow was then set in the cloud as a token that all 
flesh should not be again destroyed by a flood. 

Blessing Noah and his sons, God put the fear and dread 
of them on all things that moved, and delivered all creatures 
into their hands. He also gave them the flesh of every liv- 
ing thing for meat, even as before he had given the green 
herb for their food. He forbade the eating of blood ; a law 
which was again given to the Church in the time of the 
Jews, 2 and yet again by the apostles. 3 God told them blood 
was the life of the flesh. It is a strange fact that the circu- 
lation of the blood, as the life of the flesh, was lost sight of 
for over three thousand years ; when it was again discovered 

1 Gen. viii. 21. 2 Levit. iii. 17. 3 Acts xv. 20. 

(100) 



FIRST DRUNKENNESS. 101 

by Dr. Harvey, A. D. 1628. The fathers of the new world, 
as representatives of the race, were also told : " At the hand 
of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso 
sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed : for in 
the image of God made he man." l 

Like all the covenants of God with His people, the prom- 
ises and covenants He made with Noah and his sons embraced 
their descendants, " Behold I establish my covenant with you, 
and with your seed after you." 2 

The history that God has given us here again reminds us 
that all men are of one family. It says that of the three 
sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, " was the whole earth 
overspread." 3 

We do not read of the gathering of any of the treasures 
of the old world from the ruins caused by the flood. Al- 
though the owner of a world, Noah went at once to work, 
and " began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vine- 
yard." The next act recorded of him is not so creditable : 
" he drank of the wine, and was drunken ; and he was un- 
covered within his tent." Poor human nature ! Noah, now 
an old man over six hundred years old, a believer, a "preacher 
of righteousness," exposing himself, drunk and naked. How 
faithful is the history God has given us ! showing us not 
only the faith, but also the falls, and even the crimes of those 
whom He has made heroes and saints in his church. 

The different effects on the children of God, and on the 
seed of the Serpent, which the knowledge of those sins causes, 
were shown by the children of Noah : as they have been 
shown by their descendants ever since. The sins of the 
Lord's people, and their punishment, as recorded in the 
Scriptures, " happened unto them for ensamples ; and they 
are written for our admonition. Wherefore let him that 
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 4 Believers are 

1 Gen. ix 5. See First Murder, chap. xvii. 2 Gen. ix. 9. 

'Genix. 19. 4 1 Cor. x. 11. 



102 FIRST THINGS. 

thus led to be humble, to watch, and to pray. Unbelievers, 
on the contrary, act exactly the reverse. Ham, instead of 
mourning at his father's fall, exposed him. Thus, the ene- 
mies of the Lord, to this day, take advantage of David's 
crime, and make it " an occasion to blaspheme ;" as it was 
foretold they would do. 1 How many there are now building 
their hopes for eternity on the sins of some professing Chris- 
tians around them, making them their bridge to heaven ! 
How many expect to be saved by believing in Judas ! 

1 2 Sam. xii. 14. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

FIRST GOVERNMENT — FIRST DESPOTISM — FIRST SLAVERY — FIRST 
SLAVEHOLDER — DIVINE INJUNCTIONS TO MASTERS, SLAVES, 
AND SUBJECTS — THE FOUNDATIONS OF FREEDOM. 

THE first government in the world was parental. This 
foundation of all government the Lord has not only 
made a necessity in our social relations, but he has recog- 
nized it in the fourth and fifth commandments, and confirmed 
it, with repeated injunctions to parents and children, through- 
out the Bible. From it grew the patriarchal, the parent 
becoming the head of a tribe of descendants bearing his 
name. Afterward, when gathered into communities, these 
heads of families, or some chosen from them, became rulers, 
under the title of elders. This name has been a badge of 
honor and authority in all ages and in nearly all languages. 
Thus the words senior, senor, signor, seigneur, senator, ex- 
pressing dignity and authority, come from the Latin word 
senior, or elder. So also the title alderman or eldermen. 
Unhappily, in many places, the title, as well as the power 
associated with it, has been given to men unworthy of the 
name, and unfitted both by age and character to rule. 

The rulers and judges of the first nation, whom the Lord 
called His people, and to whom He gave a constitution and 
laws, were appointed as follows : " The Lord said unto 
Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel 
whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and offi- 
cers over them," " and I will take of the spirit which is upon 
thee, and will put it upon them, and they shall bear the bur- 
den of the people with thee." ' 

According to the express directions of the Lord, the visi- 

1 Numbers xi. 16, 17. 

. (103) 



104 PIEST THINGS. 

ble Church has always been under the government of elders. 
When Moses was sent to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, 
he was sent first with a message to the elders of Israel. 1 
And the elders ruled in Israel until they assisted in putting 
our Lord to death. The office was continued in the Christ- 
ian church. Even the apostles called themselves elders, and 
met with the elders in council when decrees were to be 
issued. 2 Directions were given to appoint elders in every 
church, 3 and they were called bishops or overseers, the word 
in the original Greek being the same. 4 Sin was the cause 
of the introduction of other governments, both in the church 
and in the state ; and with the change of government came 
anarchy, despotism, and slavery. 

Noah's fall was the occasion not only of displaying the 
different characters of his sons, but also of a prophecy, 
showing what was to happen to their descendants, a 
prophecy which the history of the world ever since has 
proved to have been inspired. While Ham mocked, Shem 
and Japhet avoided the sight of their father's nakedness, 
and respectfully covered him. When Noah awoke from his 
wine, and knew what Ham had done unto him, he said, 
" Cursed be Canaan [the son of Ham] ; a servant of serv- 
ants [or the most degraded of slaves] shall he be unto his 
brethren." 5 Thus the first human slavery spoken of in his- 
tory was prophesied, as a consequence of sin. Slavery, as a 
curse, descending upon the sinner and his children. 

One of the sure consequences of sin has always been 
degradation and slavery. The first kingdoms and despotic 
governments in the world were founded by the descendants 
of Ham. When the Jews rejected the reign of God, they 
sought a king ; as a consequence, God gave them one, saying, 
Their king should tyrannize over them. 6 Even civil law 

1 Exod. iii. 16, 18 ; iv. 29. '■ Acts xx. 28 ; Phil. i. 1. 

2 Acts xv. 2, 6, 23 ; 1 Peter v. 1 ; 2 John 1. 5 Gen. ix. 25. 

3 Titus i. 5, 6, 7; Acts xiv. 23. ° 1 Sam. viii. 1, 11. 



FIRST SLAVERY. 105 

makes criminals labor in state-prisons as slaves. All of us, 
being sinners by nature, are slaves : we are " servants of sin," ' 
and are " in the snare of the Devil, taken captive by him at 
his will." 2 When Moses told the children of Israel what 
should happen to them after they ceased to obey God, among 
other curses which should fall upon them, he said, " Ye shall 
be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and 
no man shall buy you." 3 And so it proved: when they for- 
sook the Lord, " He delivered them into the hands of spoilers 
that spoiled them, and he sold them into, the hands of their 
enemies." 4 This happened no less than six times during the 
government of the Judges, and repeatedly afterward ; 5 till, 
after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, when Jerusalem was 
destroyed by the Romans, those Jews who escaped from the 
great slaughter were sold into slavery ; and such numbers 
were offered for sale that thousands perished, because pur-* 
chasers could not be found for them all. Whenever His 
people repented and returned unto Him, the Lord delivered 
them from their bondage ; and then, He generally punished 
those whom He had used to chastise his people, because they 
did it with wicked intent. 6 

History, in every age, agrees with what is the fact in all 
parts of the world now. that, where men have forsaken the 
Lord, and where his Word has not free course and is not 
glorified, there the masses, already slaves of Satan, become 
slaves of their fellow-men. They fall under the iron rule of 
a military, civil, or of an ecclesiastical despotism, the last 
the worst of them all, bringing soul and body into slavery. 
Civil liberty does not of itself make men free ; nor does the 
fact of their being citizens of a republic make them so. 

" Peoples may not rise, though kings may fall." 

The people of Great Britain are free, and live in security 

1 Rom. vi. 17. 2 2 Tim. ii. 26. 3 Deut. xxviii. 68. 4 Judges ii. 14. 
5 2 Chron. xxviii. 5 ; xxxvi. 5 ; xxiv. 24 ; 2 Kings xvii. 6 ; etc. 
6 Judges iii. 9 ; Isaiah x. 6, 12. 



106 FIRST THINGS. 

under a monarch ; while the people of France, during the 
republic of 1793, were slaves under a " reign of terror." 
Few nations have thus far ever existed on the earth where 
the masses have been free ; or where they were fit to be free ; 
or where they could have continued free, if made so. 

" Men unfit for freedom can't be free." 

The United States enjoy civil and religious liberty, because 
they were settled by God-fearing men, and because their 
laws and constitutions were framed by such men. Let the 
public heart, however, become infidel and corrupt, and soon> 
like the so-called South American republics, they will be free 
only in name : a degraded people, they will select or become 
the prey of unprincipled rulers ; " the wicked will walk on 
every side, when the vilest men are exalted," ' and there 
will then be constant revolutions and civil wars, till despo- 
tism will follow anarchy. The nations of the world will not 
be fit for universal suffrage until the millennium. 

The first slaveholder spoken of is Abraham, the chosen 
" friend of God," " the father of all them that believe." * 
When, in obedience to the word of the Lord, he left his 
kindred and his country, he took with him Sarai, his wife? 
and Lot, and all their substance that they had gathered, and 
the souls that they had gotten in Haran. 3 Driven by a fam- 
ine into Egypt, he received from Pharaoh, while there, sheep 
and oxen, men-servants and maid-servants} When he went 
to rescue Lot, he armed " three hundred and eighteen trained 
servants, horn in his own house" 5 Afterward, Abimelech 
*' took sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants, 
and gave them unto Abraham." 6 Constantly increasing in 
wealth, Abraham must have had thousands of slaves ; and 
these are spoken of among the blessings given him by God. 
His pious servant, in speaking of his master to Laban, said, 
" God hath blessed my master greatly." " He hath given 

'Psalms xii. 8. 3 Gen. xii. 5. 6 Gen. xiv. 14. 

"Rom. iv. 11, 12. "Gen. xii. 16. 6 Gen. xx. 14. 



FIRST SLAVERY. 107 

him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants 
and maid-servants," 1 etc. When Canaan, through Ham, was 
cursed to be a servant of servants unto his brethren, a part 
of the blessing upon Shem and Japhet was that Canaan 
should be their servant. 2 

And what is surprising, heathen masters sometimes received 
blessings from holding the Lord's people in slavery. Naa- 
man the Syrian, was cured of his leprosy through the instru- 
mentality of a Hebrew captive, a slave of his wife. 3 Poti- 
phar, a descendant of Ham, bought and held Joseph as a 
slave, and made him overseer in his house. From that time, 
'• the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake ; 
and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had." 4 

The Lord has always recognized and sanctioned the rela- 
tionship of master and slave thus instituted. It has a per- 
petual recognition in two of the Ten Commandments, the 
fourth and the tenth. The masters were not only blessed by 
the relationship, but in some cases, as we have already 
noticed, slavery proved a blessing also to the slave : by 
bringing him, with his master's children, into the visible 
church ; into the covenant which God made with his believ- 
ing or Christian master, the slave being made, with him, a 
partaker of the ordinances, sacraments, and privileges of the 
Church. 5 

Slavery appears to have been common in the time of 
Abraham. It was the custom then, as it has been in some 
parts of the world ever since, for the victors in war either 
to put all the conquered to death or to make slaves of them. 
Our own ancestors, the Anglo-Saxons in England, when con- 
quered by the Normans, were made slaves. Among the 
heathen it has also been common for parents to sell their 
children. The Lord refers to this custom, when, in one of 
his many touching appeals to his people, He said, " Which of 

1 Gen. xxiv. 35. 2 Gen. ix. 26, 21. 2 2 Kings v 3. 

4 Gen. xxxix. 5. s Gen. xvii. 12, 13; Exod. xii. 44, 45. 



108 FIRST THINGS. 

my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? Behold, for 
your iniquities have ye sold yourselves." 1 Persons were 
often sold, and children were liable to be taken for debt ; 2 
others would go voluntarily into servitude. As the Lord 
has clone in regard to all relationships not in themselves sin- 
ful, so in all ages of the Church, the Lord has given rules 
regulating the relationship of masters and servants, or slaves. 
His law to the Church in the time of the Jews was, " He 
that stealeth a man and selleth him," "he that be found 
stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel and 
maketh merchandise of him, he shall surely be put to death." 3 
They could, however, hold their brethren as slaves, getting 
them by purchase or otherwise according to law, for a term 
of six years, when the Hebrew slave was to be again free, 
unless he or she declared before the judges that they wished 
to remain with their masters, in which case their ears were 
to be bored, and then they could not recover their liberty 
until the year of jubilee. 4 The case was different with those 
taken in war, or bought of the heathen. " Of the heathen 
that are around you, -of them shall ye buy bondmen and 
bondmaids. Ye shall take them as an inheritance for your 
children after you, to inherit them for a possession ; they 
shall be your bondmen forever." 6 Directions were also given 
in regard to the treatment of their slaves. 6 In those direc- 
tions, in speaking of the slave, these words are used, " for he 
is his money." 7 

In the New Testament, connected with injunction to hus- 
bands and wives, and parents and children, the respective 
duties of Christian masters, and of Christian slaves, whether 
having Christian or heathen masters, are repeatedly and very 
clearly laid down. 8 The directions to Timothy, and through 

1 Isaiah 1.1. 2 2 Kings iv. 1. s Exod. xxi. 16 ; Dent. xxiv. 1. 

4 Exod. xxi. 2, 6 ; Levit. xxv. 40. B Levit. xxv. 45, 46. 

6 Exod. xxi. 20, 26, 27, 32 ; Deut. xvi. 11, 14. T Exod. xxi. 21. 

8 Col. iv. 1 ; Eph. vi. 9 ; 1 Tim. vi. 1, 2 ; Eph. vi. 5 ; Col. iii. 22 ; Titus 
ii. 9; 1 Peter ii. 18. 



FIEST SLAVERY. 109 

him to all ministers, are : " These things teach and exhort." * 
In regard to this, as in other reforms, the Church then, as it 
is at the present day, was troubled by false teachers, and 
pretended reformers, who arrogated to themselves more wis- 
dom, and greater philanthropy, than the Lord, and his Apos- 
tles. The character of those who teach otherwise respect- 
ing the duties of masters and slaves, is then given, and also 
how such are to be treated. " If any man teach otherwise, 
and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to 
godliness ; he is proud (or a fool), knowing nothing, but 
doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh 
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse dispu tings of 
men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing 
that gain is godliness : from such withdraio thyself." 2 

It is worthy of remark, that when these injunctions were 
given, there were about sixty millions of slaves in the Ro- 
man empire alone ; and a large portion of the slaves in the 
world were white ; and also, that their heathen masters had 
not only the power of life and death over them ; but they 
often exercised that power with the greatest cruelty. Ve- 
dius Apollo, an intimate friend of Augustus, fed his fishes 
with the flesh of his slaves. The governments of the world 
in the days of the Apostles were most arbitrary and tyran- 
nical. The deceitful Tiberius, with absolute power, was 
bringing the world into slavery, when the Lord uttered 
those memorable words : " Render to Caesar the things that 
are Csesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 3 The 
detestable, bloodthirsty Nero was emperor, when Peter 
wrote, " Honor the king." " Submit yourselves to every or- 
dinance of man for the Lord's sake ; whether it be to the 
king, as supreme ;" 4 etc. 

There is no sin in having power ; but in the abuse of it. 
The government of God is most absolute ; yet. without sin. 

l lTim. vi.2. 2 1 Tim. vi. 3, 5. 3 Mark xii. 17. 4 1 Peter ii. 13, 17. 



110 FIRST THINGS. 

When the Roman centurion urged the Lord to heal his slave 
simply by a word, he used as an argument, that the Lord 
could control diseases, even as he himself had power over 
his slave to send him where he pleased. Our Lord, instead 
of telling him he sinned, in having and using such power, 
gave him this great commendation ; " I have not found so 
great faith, no, not in Israel." 1 Woe ! to them who make a 
wrong use of power. Woe ! to that individual, or to that 
state, which, by its laws, uses power to keep degraded and 
debased any whom Christ came to save. Woe ! to them, 
who, instead of seeking to break every yoke, and loose 
every bond, endeavor to tighten them. They must render 
an account to their Master, who is no respecter of persons. 
The Scriptures tell us, " The powers that be are ordained 
of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power re- 
sisteth the ordinance of God." 2 To carry out His designs, 
God sometimes raises up and gives power, for a season, to 
wicked men ; even to usurpers, wading through blood to a 
throne. In consequence of Solomon's idolatry, God sent a 
message to Jeroboam, which made him king of the ten tribes 
after their revolt. 3 He sent Elijah to " anoint Hazael to be 
king over Syria : and Jehu to be king over Israel :" 4 though 
they would obtain those kingdoms by killing the sovereigns 
then reigning over them. He said to Pharaoh : " For this 
cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power." 5 
Speaking of the conquering king of Assyria as " the rod of 
His anger," God said, " I will send him against an hypo- 
critical nation, to take the spoil and to tread them down 
like the mire of the streets. Howbeit, he meaneth not so, 
neither doth his heart think so. But it is in his heart to 
destroy and cut off nations, not a few." 6 Our Lord said to 
Pilate : " Thou couldest have no power against me, except 
it were given thee from above." 7 We are directed to honor 

1 Matt. viii. 10. 2 Rom. xiii. 1. 3 1 Kings xi. 9, 31. 4 1 Kings xix. 15. 
5 Exod. ix. 1 ft. ° Isainh x 6. 7 John xix. 11. 



FOUNDATIONS OF FREEDOM. Ill 

the authority even of such rulers ; and to pay tribute and 
custom to whom they are due : for such were in authority 
when these injunctions were given. When a deliverer is 
sent, or when the people have the power given to them to 
throw off the yoke ; then, they are " the powers that be," 
and are to be respected as such. In all history an unsuc- 
cessful rebellion is counted as treason ; a successful one, is 
honored as a revolution. 

The Gospel is the only remedy for any evil connected with 
any human institution or government. It fits men to be 
free ; and it will make them so. The Egyptian master put 
all that he had into the hands of Joseph, a slave ; and this 
slave, afterwards, was raised to be the ruler of all Egypt. 
Why ? " The Lord was with Joseph, and the Lord made 
all that he did to prosper." l Thus Daniel, a captive, is 
made first president over an hundred and twenty princes 
ruling a kingdom : 2 and the captive Morclecai is made next 
to king Ahasuerus over the greatest kingdom then in the 
world. 3 The wicked king Ahaz was forced to become a 
servant to the powerful king of Assyria. 4 His son Heze- 
kiah was enabled to throw off the yoke. How ? Hezekiah 
" trusted in the Lord God of Israel : he clave to the Lord 
and departed not from following him. And the Lord was 
with him ; and he prospered whithersover he went forth." a 
Afterwards when the king of Assyria came against him with 
an overwhelming host, Hezekiah carried the blasphemous 
message which had been sent to him, and spread it before 
the Lord with a prayer for deliverance. The answer sent 
to that prayer, as recorded, 2 Kings xix. 20, showing how 
the Lord controls heathen kings, and protects His own peo- 
ple for His own name's sake, is sublime! The result was : 
" the angel of the Lord went out that night and smote in 

1 Gen. xxxix. 3, 4. 2 Dan. v. 29 ; vi. 1. 3 Esther x. 3. 

4 2 Kings xvi. 1, 1 8. 6 2 Kings xviii. 5, 1. 



112 FIEST THINGS. 

the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and four score and 
five thousand." 

The Lord's people may be called to suffer and to die for 
his name's sake ; but they " have the promise of the life that 
now is, as well as of that which is to come." x They cannot 
be kept slaves. They must become rulers. Among the 
many blessings promised by the Lord to his people, if they 
walked in his statutes and kept his commandments, was : 
" The Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail : and 
thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath." 2 
" Five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you 
shall put ten thousand to flight : and your enemies shall fall 
before you." 3 And this was literally true in all the history 
of the Jewish nation for fifteen hundred years : 4 and it 
has been verified with Christian nations again and again 
ever since. 

The preface to the ten commandments continually reminds 
the people of God that once they were slaves : and also, who 
made them free. " I am the Lord thy God, which have 
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 
bondage." 5 The same motive to love and good works is 
taught throughout the Epistles, " For ye are bought with a 
price : therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, 
which are God's." 6 The burden of the " new song " of praise 
and thanksgiving in heaven is, " Thou wast slain, and hast re- 
deemed us to God by thy blood," " and hast made us unto our 
God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth." 7 

Part of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ was " to 
preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty them 
that are bruised." 8 Hence, our constant prayer should be, 
" Thy kingdom come." 

1 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22. a Deut. xxviii. 1 3. 3 Levit. xxvi. 8. 

4 Gen. xiv. 15 ; Judges vii. 2, 19 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 6 ; 1 Chron. xi. 11, 20. 

5 Exod. xx. 2. 6 1 Cor. vi. 2u ; vii. 23 ; 2 Cor. v. 15 ; Titus ii. 14. 

7 Kev. v. 9. "Luke iv. 18. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

DESCENDANTS OF HAM — FIRST KINGDOMS — NIMROD — FIRST 

CITY AND FIRST BUILDING AFTER THE FLOOD BABEL OR 

BABYLON — FIRST ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 

HAM signifies black or burnt. His descendants dwelt 
in the tropical or hot regions of the earth. The 
Cushites settled in the southern regions of Asia ; in time 
spreading over Arabia to Egypt. The land of Cush is trans- 
lated in the Bible the " land of Ethiopia :" and its inhabi- 
tants " Ethiopians." We must bear in mind that generally 
those referred to by that name in the Bible are inhabitants of 
Arabia, and not of the land now known as Ethiopia, south 
of Egypt. 1 The sons of Canaan settled in Palestine and 
Syria ; and the sons of Mizraim and Phut in Egypt, and 
Lybia in Africa. 

Neither Ham nor his descendants became degraded slaves 
immediately. In fact his descendants for many years were 
more powerful than the children of the other sons of Noah, 
who were to inherit the blessing. Although they were to be 
the slaves of Shem, yet some of them, the Egyptians, held the 
Israelites, the best of Shem's children, in the most cruel 
slavery for generations. 

The first great conqueror spoken of was a grandson of 
Ham ; the first cities built after the flood, the first kingdoms 
established, the first immense buildings erected, and the first 
great works, the remains of some of which are among the 
wonders of the world to the present day, were built by the 
children of Ham. Nations of giants were descended from 

1 Numb. xii. 1 ; Exod. ii. 21, etc. 
8 (H3) 



114 FIEST THINGS. 

him : races of men of immense stature and power. 1 Like the 
descendants of Cain and the " seed of the Serpent" before 
the flood, his descendants were for many years the mighty 
men of the world ; while the " children of the promise" were 
dwelling* in tents and in comparative obscurity. How they 
must have scoffed at the prediction of the coming judgment 
upon them. How natural that one of them, Goliath, " defied 
the armies of the living God !" 2 How sad the fact, that 
" because sentence against an evil work is not executed speed- 
ily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them 
to do evil." 3 But God's word and His purposes are sure : 
though to men they may appear slow in their execution. 

The first kingdoms after the flood being established by the 
descendants of Ham, made them, while conquering others, 
the slaves of absolute rulers. The devoted nations, which, 
when the cup of their iniquity was full, 4 God commanded the 
Israelites to destroy, those not destroyed being made the 
hewers of wood and the drawers of water, 5 were descended 
from Canaan : and so were the Phoenicians and the Cartha- 
ginians afterwards subjugated and destroyed by the Greeks 
and Romans. The Africans, bought and sold like beasts for 
three thousand years to the present day, are descendants of 
Ham. 

Nimrod, the meaning of whose name is rebellion, impiety, 
was a son of Cush and grandson of Ham. " He began to be 
a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before 
the Lord." 6 The Septuagint calls him the Giant Hunter. 
According to his name, he was doubtless a bold rebel, fear- 
ing neither God nor man ; like those hunters of whom 
Micah speaks, when he says, " They lie in wait for blood ; 
they hunt every man his brother :" for Nimrod's conquest 
must have been over his relatives. " The beginning of his 
kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in 

1 Numb. xiii. 33 ; Deut. ii. 20 ; iii. 11. 2 1 Sam], xvii. 36, 45. 

3 Eccles. viii. 11. 4 Gen. xv. 16. 6 Joshua ix. 21, 27. ° Gen. x. 8. 



FIRST KINGDOM. 115 

the land of Shirtar." According to some he also founded 
Nineveh and the Assyrian empire ; although this appears to 
have been done by Asshur when driven by Nimrod out of 
Shinar. 1 The ruins of some of the cities built by Nimrod 
still remain ; and his name, proverbial in the time of Moses, 
is to the present day familiar to the Arabs. A remarkable 
mound on the site of ancient Babylon is now known among 
them as the " Hill of Nimrod." He is thought to have 
reigned one hundred and forty-eight years, and to have died 
B. C. 2099. 

Belus succeeded Nimrod and was the second king of Bab- 
ylon. According to Pliny, he was the inventor of the Chal- 
dean astronomy. He was a student, and spent his time in 
improving his people. He reigned sixty years, and died 
B. C. 2039. Before ascending the throne he was probably 
cotemporaneous with Nimrod, and was perhaps older than he. 

Some think that Nimrod and Belus were the same person. 
A passage of Eupolemns seems to make Belus to be Ham. 
While another would make it appear that Phut, one of the 
sons of Ham, also had the name. It was probably a title 
given to several of the early kings. Eusebius well says, " It 
must be confessed the ancient writers have very much con- 
founded these ancient names with one another." 

We have no reliable accounts of the nations existing from 
the time of Noah to Abraham, excepting such as we can glean 
from the Bible. In those days the population of the earth 
increased, as it did before the flood, marvelously fast ; as 
the descendants of Noah for several generations lived nearly 
five hundred years. Even when human life was shortened, 
Jacob went down into Egypt with his family numbering only 
seventy souls : and his descendants when they left Egypt, 
two hundred and fifteen years after, numbered over six hun- 
dred thousand fighting men : thus making their whole num- 
ber more than three millions. However, a numerous seed 

1 Genesis x. 11. 



116 FIRST THINGS. 

was part of the blessing promised to Abraham : and Goshen 
was given to them as the best of the land of Egypt. 1 It was 
the most fruitful district of the most fertile part of the world ; 
even the women, according to Aristotle, having sometimes 
three, four, and even five children at a birth. 2 The promised 
land did not embrace much territory : yet the Israelites in 
taking possession of it destroyed seven nations, whom Moses 
describes as greater and mightier than they were. 3 These 
powerful nations were some of the descendants of Ham. 
They had " cities great and fenced up to heaven ;" and were 
" a people great and tall." 4 Before that time, the Emims, 
the Horims, and the Zuzims, nations of giants, also descend- 
ants of Ham, had been destroyed by the posterity of Lot and 
of Esau. 5 Thus for a period of about eight hundred years 
from the building of Babel to the conquest of Canaan, the 
great nations and kingdoms of the world were the descend- 
ants of him, upon whose children a curse was resting to be 
fulfilled in due time. 

We have already noticed that the first city after the crea- 
tion and the first cities after the flood were built by the ene- 
mies of the Lord, by Cain and by Nimrod, and their follow- 
ers. The first city built after the flood was Babel or Baby- 
lon. Founded in rebellion and pride, Babylon has always 
been opposed to the Lord's people : excepting only when the 
Lord, in a few instances, specially interposed by directing 
the hearts of its monarchs otherwise. And although even 
the traces of the city nave long since been almost obliterated 
from the earth, still the name, significant of heresy, pride, 
and persecution of the Lord's people, has been given in the 
prophesy of the Revelation to Rome and the Papacy : 6 and 
Babylon exists and will continue till Rome shall be de- 
stroyed. 7 

1 Gen. xlvii. 6. 2 Hist. Anim, 1, vii. s Dout. vii. 1 ; iv. 38. 

4 Dent. ix. 1, 2 ; i. 28. 5 Deut. ii. 10, 20, 22. 

6 Rev. xiv. 8; xvii. I>, 18; xviii. 10. 7 Rev. xviii. 10, 21, 24. 



FIRST BUIL DING. 117 

Babel or Babylon, the same in the original, meaning confu- 
sion, was founded about one hundred years after the flood ; 
B. C. 2247. The earth till that time had but one language. 
To check the building of the tower, and to humble its build- 
ers, God confounded their language. The place became 
afterwards the famous city of Babylon. The tower, it is sup- 
posed, afterwards became the tower of Belus in that city. 
Herodotus visited this tower, and describes it as a square 
pyramid six hundred and sixty feet in length and breadth, or 
half a mile in circumference at the base, from which arose 
eight towers one above another, decreasing in size to the 
summit, which was reached by a broad road winding up 
around the outside, wide enough for carriages to pass each 
other, and even to turn. Strabo says it rose to the same 
height, six hundred and sixty feet. 

The tower was used for astronomical observations. The 
first record we have of these being made was at Babylon. 
It is remarkable that Calisthenes sent to Aristotle a register 
of astronomical observations, made at Babylon, extending 
back from the taking of that city by Alexander the Great, 
nineteen hundred and three years, which goes back to about 
fourteen years after the tower was built. It was, however, 
chiefly devoted to the worship of Bel or Baal, whose temple 
contained immense treasures, including several statues of 
massive gold, one of which was forty feet in height. Here 
was deposited the sacred golden vessels brought from Jeru- 
salem, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7 ; Jer. li. 44. It ruins are supposed 
to be the present Birs Nimroud, six miles south-west of Hil- 
leh, the modern Babylon ; an immense mound of coarse sun- 
dried bricks, laid with bitumen, strewn with fragments of 
pottery, etc., fused by some intense heat. It is one hundred 
and ninety feet high, with a tower on the top thirty-five feet 
high and ninety feet in circumference, rent at the top as if 
by lightning. 1 " Let us make us a name," cried the builders. 2 

1 Bible History. 2 Genesis xi 4. 



118 FIRST THINGS. 

And so men are still striving to do ; although time is con- 
stantly proving the truth of the declaration of the Lord, that 
every high tower, and the haughtiness of men, shall be made 
low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted. 1 

From the time of the confusion of tongues, Babylon figures 
very little in history, until the ambassadors of Merodaeh- 
baladan came to Hezekiah, B. C. 712, to congratulate him 
on his miraculous recovery from sickness : a period of about 
fifteen hundred years ; during a part of which period Nineveh 
had been the seat of empire. It would be out of place, there- 
fore, to do more than to take a glance at its growth, till 
under Nebuchadnezzar it attained the summit of splendor, 
with walls sixty miles in circumference, three hundred feet 
high, and seventy-five feet wide, having on each side twenty- 
five brazen gates, from which roads crossed to the opposite 
gates. The king's palace was in an enclosure of six miles in 
circumference, in which were the hanging gardens, sustained 
by arches upon arches four hundred feet high, terraced off 
for trees and flowers, and watered from the river by con- 
cealed machinery. 

Many centuries before this, a " goodly Babylonish garment" 
was so coveted that one of them, with a little gold, tempted 
Achan to bring defeat on Israel, and destruction upon him- 
self and his family. 2 See her the Paris of the world ! furn- 
ishing it with perfumes and fashions. See her renowned for 
her learning, her manufactures, and her skill in the arts ; 
renowned also for her wealth, her luxury, and her licentious- 
ness. See her just as she is becoming the seat of empire 
and the proud mistress of all nations, and then listen to the 
fearful denunciations of Isaiah, the prophet of the Lord, ut- 
tered more than a century before Babylon reached the sum- 
mit of its greatness. We hear the echoes of his words : 
" Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chal- 
dees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and 

1 Isaiah ii. 11, 15; Rev. xvi. 19. 2 Joshua vii. 21. 



BABYLON. 119 

Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be 
dwelt in from generation to generation : neither shall the 
Arabian pitch tent there : neither shall the shepherds make 
their fold there : but wild beasts of the deserts shall lie 
there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; 
and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 
And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate 
houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces." 1 And hear- 
ing these words, we have the exact description of Babylon 
as it is at the present day ; and also a standing witness that 
the Lord rules among the nations and directs the end from 
the beginning. 

1 Isaiah xiii. 19; xiv. 22; xlvii. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

NINEVEH— THE ASSYRIANS— SEMIRAMIS. 

1VTINEVEH, the capital of Assyria, was founded shortly 
1 1 after Babel or Babylon, about two hundred and eighty 
miles north of that city, on the east bank of the river Tigris. 
The Bible account is, " Out of that land (Shinar) went forth 
Asshur (one of the sons of Shem) and builded Nineveh, and 
the city of Rehoboth, 1 " etc. In the margin it reads, Nimrod 
after building Babylon and Calneh in the land of Shinar, 
went out into Assyria and builded Nineveh and Rehoboth, 
the streets of the city or the great public or market places. 
A tradition declares that Nineveh took its name from Ninus ; 
and that Ninus was the son of Nimrod : this, however, could 
not well have been, as Micah speaks of the land of Asshur 
and the land of Nimrod as two distinct countries ; 2 and be- 
sides, according to received history, Ninus, the second king 
of Assyria, conquered the Babylonians and united the two 
kingdoms. 

The Assyrians were the descendants of Asshur, the second 
son of Shem. His territory in Shinar appears to have been 
invaded by Nimrod the giant hunter of his brethren before 
(or in the face of) the Lord. Nineveh was probably first 
built as a fortress. The kingdom of Assyria was inconsider- 
able when Ninus began to reign. He soon enlarged it by his 
conquests and laid the foundations of a mighty empire. He 
was ever restless and ambitious, and, according to Justin, 
began the first general wars, and thus broke the peace of the 
world. He died B. C. 1987, after reigning fifty-two years. 

'Gen. x. II. 2 Micah, v. 6. 

(120) 



ASSYRIA. 121 

The Assyrian empire was founded, B. C. 2059, and lasted 
till the reign of Sardanapalus, the thirty-first sovereign, B. C. 
747, a period of about 1300 years. Little is known of Nine- 
veh or Assyria during nearly the whole of that period. The 
first king of Assyria mentioned by name in Scripture is Pul, 
supposed to have been the father of Sardanapalus. Pul in- 
vaded Israel in the days of Menahem, B. C. 769 : : having 
been " stirred up by the God of Israel" to do this, because 
Israel had forsaken the God of their fathers. 2 Before this 
we have a partial history of Nineveh in the book of Jonah, 
B. C. 862; in which it appears that "Nineveh believed 
God," 3 when He sent a prophet with a message threatening 
its destruction. As the result of that faith, we behold 
all the inhabitants of a great heathen city humbling them- 
selves before God : proclaiming a fast ; and, from the king 
down, the greatest to the least, putting on sackcloth ; sitting 
in ashes ; repenting of sin ; and crying mightily unto God. 
It is not strange that God heard them. 

It was by the king of Assyria that the Lord removed 
Israel out of his sight for their sins. 4 From that time the 
ten tribes disappeared. It was a king of Assyria that sent 
the blasphemous message to Hezekiah ; and it was to his 
dwelling at Nineveh that he returned, after the angel of the 
Lord had smitten in one night, in the camp of the Assyrians, 
a hundred and fourscore and five thousand. 5 

Of Assyrian history, written by natives, nothing remains 
excepting some fragments of Berosus the Babylonian, who 
wrote in the fourth century before Christ, and is quoted by 
Josephus. The history of Assyria, said to have been written 
by Herodotus, is lost. Outside of the Bible, little depend- 
ence can be placed on any history, written by the ancients, 
of occurrences which took place before their day. When 
they speak of such events, they not only do not agree one 

1 2 Kings xv. 19. 2 1 Chron. v. 25, 26. 3 Jonah iii. 5. 

4 2 Kings xvii. 5, 28. 5 Isaiah xxxvii. o7- 



122 FIEST THINGS. 

with another, but they also blend truth and fiction, tradition 
and superstition, so together, as to make the sifting difficult, 
and at times impossible. For instance, few names are more 
celebrated than that of Semiramis, described by some as queen 
of Babylon, and by others as queen of Nineveh : while there 
are some who, on account of the difficulty of ascertaining 
who she was, when she lived, and what she accomplished, go 
so far as to doubt whether there ever was such a queen at 
all ; and suppose that it was the name of a tribe. As to the 
age in which she lived, Syncellus, a Byzantine historian, gives 
the date 2177 B. C, while Herodotus places her about B. C. 
713 ■ and Dr. Usher, B. C. 1215. Different authors make 
her the wife, daughter, mother, and some the step-mother of 
Ninus. There may have been several queens by the name 
of Semiramis, each adding to the celebrity of the name, and 
also tending to add to the obscurity of ancient history. 
Semiramis removed her court from Nineveh to Babylon : and 
her name may be associated thus with both cities. 

The vast works attributed to this ancient queen are the 
great walls of Babylon, and the first bridge over the Eu- 
phrates. She is described as leading her armies to battle, 
and as a conqueror penetrating India and Bactria. The ac- 
counts of her death are as various as those of her life. Ac- 
cording to one, she was turned into a dove, and worshipped 
under that form in Assyria ; another tells us that she burned 
herself, at Babylon, in a fit of grief at the loss of a favorite 
horse ; a third states that she was murdered by the com- 
mand of her step-son Ninyas. She is said to have come into 
notice in this way : Ninus was unsuccessful in an attack 
on some fortress ; Semiramis, the wife of one of his soldiers, 
promised to gain it for him. Being allowed to take the 
command, by her skill and courage she not only took the 
fortress, but so gained for herself the admiration of Ninus, 
that he took her from her husband, and made her the partner 
of his empire ; and when lie died, he left the whole, with 



SEMIRAMIS. 123 

Ninyas, his son, under her care. Ninus was buried by Se- 
miramis, according to one tradition, in a very singular man- 
ner. She caused his own palace to be converted into his 
tomb, by having it entirely covered over with a vast mound 
of earth, said to be the only memorial of the site of Nine- 
veh after its destruction. This token of affection and mode 
of burial are disputed by two other traditions, one of which 
says he was buried at Babylon, and another, that he ended 
his days at Crete, whither he fled on being dethroned by 
Semiramis. Ninyas, the reputed murderer of his step- 
mother, is described by some as a very weak and sensual 
character ; and his successors, showing little of the spirit of 
Nimrocl, became proverbial for sloth and luxury ; leaving no 
names worthy of record. According to others, Ninyas, 
making no wars, regulated his extensive dominions with 
such wisdom, that he laid the foundations of an empire 
which lasted over a thousand years ; a record more credi- 
table than if he had made many wars and conquests. 

Strabo says that Nineveh was much larger than Babylon. 
Diodorus Siculus describes it as about twenty miles long, 
twelve miles broad, and sixty miles in compass. This 
agrees with the prophet Jonah, who speaks of it as " an ex- 
ceeding great city of three days' journey," 1 twenty miles a 
day being the common computation for a pedestrian. It was 
surrounded by large walls 100 feet high, so broad that three 
chariots could drive abreast on them, and defended by 1,500 
towers, 200 feet in height. Nineveh is made important in 
scripture, by having two of the books of the minor prophets, 
Jonah and Nahum, making reference almost exclusively to 
it. In the latter, a perfect poem, the threatenings against 
Nineveh are continued, says Dr. Adam Clarke, " in a strain 
of invective, astonishing for its richness, variety, and energy. 
One may hear and see the whip crack, the horses prancing, 
the wheels rumbling, the chariots bounding after the gallop- 

1 Jonah iii. 3. 



124 FIRST THINGS. 

ing steeds, the reflection from the drawn and highly polished 
swords, and the hurled spears, like flashes of lightning daz- 
zling the eyes, the slain lying in heaps, and horses and 
chariots stumbling over them !" A little more than a hun- 
dred years after Nahum's prophecies of its destruction, 
Nineveh was destroyed, B. C. 606 or 612. From that 
time no mention is made of Nineveh by any of the sacred 
writers ; and the most ancient of the heathen authors speak 
of it, as a city once great, but now destroyed. For about 
two thousand years even the traces of Nineveh were lost to 
the world ; so utterly " Nineveh is laid waste." ' 

Much interest has lately been excited by the wonderful 
discoveries of Mr. Layard, and the museums of the world 
are being enriched by means of the excavations made by 
him on the site of ancient Nineveh. Palaces buried under 
the sand for twenty-four centuries are brought to view ; 
with their walls partly faced with alabastar slabs, nine to 
twelve feet long, covered with paintings and sculptures ; 
serving the double purpose of ornament, and of historical 
annals, by commemorating battles and great events. In these 
the king is always represented as much larger than other 
men, and is foremost in hunting scenes, battles, sieges, tri- 
umphs, and religious ceremonies ; all of which are painted 
on the walls in great variety, and in gorgeous colors. 
Nimrod, the giant hunter, may have been represented ; or 
the impression may have started from him that kings were 
to be thought of as giants. The immense winged bulls and 
lions with human heads, standing ten to sixteen feet high at 
the doorways, the space covered, and the thickness of the 
walls, in some places fifteen feet, give us some idea of the 
grandeur of the palaces ; while the paintings and relics 
found reveal their national and domestic manners, their 
character, and religious condition : all agreeing with such 
accounts of them as we find in the Bible. 

1 Nahum iii. 7. 



NINEVEH. 125 

In regard to luxury and " the pride of life," the ancients 
doubtless equaled the present day. Mr. Layard says, that 
the Assyrians, " in form, color, ornament, and artful disposi- 
tion of attire, and in careful decoration of their person, seem 
to have given the pattern of luxury to all other people ; and 
it appears as if they could never be outdone. An ancient 
Assyrian, in the very height of the mode in his day, painted 
his eyebrows and his cheeks, whitened his complexion, some- 
times even washed in milk, and had the whole skin rubbed 
over to make it smoother and softer. He curled his long 
hair with the greatest exactness, as also his mustaches, and 
even curled or carefully plaited his beard. If natural hair 
was wanting (theirs was usually abundant) its place was sup- 
plied, as among the Egyptians, by false hair. From his 
sandals to his cap, from his dagger-hilt to the point of his 
sword-sheath, all was labored ornament ; necklaces, earrings, 
amulets, seals, &c, displayed the ingenuity of the Assyrian 
artisan, and the pride and riches of the Assyrian noble. 
The same may be said of household furniture. Silver and 
gold abounded • the chair, the footstool, the couch, the bed, 
the throne, shone with the precious metals, or displayed the 
most delicate and tasteful workmanship in wood or ivory. 
Even the pottery was of elegant forms, and the use of glass 
was known." 

From their peculiar forms, the Assyrian letters are usually 
called cuneiform, that is wedge-shaped ; they have also been 
termed arrow-headed or nail-headed. It is said that these 
letters were formed with the thorns of the Acacia, arranged 
and cemented to a block, which was then used to stamp the 
bricks. 

The exact fulfillment of the prophecies foretelling the de- 
gradation of Egpyt ; the dispersion, and also the preserva- 
tion of the Jews j 1 the destruction of Babylon, and of 
Nineveh ; the state in which the ruins of those cities were 

1 Deut. xxviii. 64 ; iv. 27. 



126 FIRST THINGS. 

to remain, and in which they have remained for more than 
two thousand years, is much more wonderful than their first 
growth and grandeur. What would be thought, should a 
man speak in the name of the Lord, and threaten the total 
destruction, and the complete and continued desolation of 
London and Paris, or of New York, and assert that the 
very sites of those cities should become the dwelling places 
of wild beasts, and should even become unknown ! As we 
read the ancient prophecies, and see their fulfillment, let us 
not forget to acknowledge Him, who says, " Remember the 
former things of old ; for I am God, and there is none like 
me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient 
times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel 
shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." * 

1 Isaiah xlvi. 9, 10. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

EGYPr — ITS EAELY PEOSPERITY — ITS ABASEMENT — HIEROGLYP- 
HICS — SESOSTRIS. 

EGYPT was settled shortly after the flood by Mizraim, 
one of the sons of Ham ; and very probably by Ham 
himself. The origin of the name is unknown. We get it 
from the Greeks and Romans, who called it Egyptus. The 
Egyptians called their country Cham or Chamia, after Ham. 
The Hebrew word for it in the Bible is Mizraim ; and the 
Turks and Arabians still call it Mizr, after Mizraim. It is 
repeatedly called in the scriptures " the land of Ham." ' 
Like Cain under the curse, Ham probably went away from 
his father, and from the place where the true God was wor- 
shipped. Josephus ascribes to him the first introduction of 
idolatry after the flood. Bringing up his children godlessly, 
they were led to look back to him as their god, and after his 
death worshipped him. The most ancient of the gods of 
Egypt was called Amm, or Ainoun, who is recognized by 
scholars as the Zeus of the Greeks, and the Jupiter of the 
Romans. 

From the first, Egypt has occupied an interesting place in 
history. A long, narrow strip of land, about seven hundred 
miles in length ; shut in by the Red Sea and the desert, east 
and west, and by the Mediterranean and the mountains, 
north and south ; made exceedingly fertile by the annual 
overflowing of the celebrated river, the Nile ; trading with 
other countries, through caravans obtaining the productions 
of Asia, 2 and enriched by the spoils of war, Egypt speedily 

1 Psalms cv. 23, 27; lxxviii. 51 ; cvi. 22. 2 Gen. xxxvii. 25. 

(127) 



128 FIRST THINGS. 

became powerful and prosperous. With a cloudless sky, an 
atmosphere almost too brilliant for the eye, a burning sun, and 
trees which hardly cast a shade ; the land, long since would 
have become a desert, had it not been for the regular annual 
inundations of the Nile, which more than takes the place 
of rain. These inundations, so mysterious in the view of 
ancient ignorance and superstition, are caused by periodical 
rains in the countries farther south. The river begins to rise 
about the middle of June, overflows its banks in August, and 
reaches its highest point early in September. From the 
middle of August till towards the end of October, the most 
of the land of Egypt resembles a great lake or sea, in which 
the towns appear as islands. The land is not only by this 
means watered ; but, when the waters recede, a deposit is 
left on the soil of thick slimy mud, which serves as a rich 
coat of manure, causing it to be exceedingly fruitful. In 
place of the flood, almost immediately, a beautiful garden 
appears. 

Egypt had its princes and its Pharaoh in the time of 
Abraham f many cities in the time of Joseph f and its im- 
mense standing army of chariots and horsemen in the time 
of Moses. It was said afterwards to have contained twenty 
thousand cities. Some of them, No-Ammon or Thebes, Zoan, 
On or Heliopolis, Noph or Memphis, etc., will always live in 
history. Of Thebes, Homer wrote, nearly three thousand 
years ago : 

" The world's great empress on the Egyptian plains, 
That spreads her conquests o'er a thousand states, 
And pours her heroes through a hundred gates." 

The historical pictures on the walls of the palaces in 
Thebes, although painted three thousand years since, are as 
brigh t in their colors, and as fresh in their appearance, as if 
just finished. On the outer wall of one of these palaces, are 
pictures extending' eight hundred feet in length. Like the 

1 Gen. xii. 15. 2 Gen. xli. 48. 




Lndueolt fc Co Litki N Y Af terD Roberts, RA. 

CENTRAL AVENUE OF THE GREAT HALL OF COLUMNS, 
KARNAK, THEBES. 



EGYPT. 129 

paintings in Nineveh, the king is represented as a giant in 
size, and as performing most wonderful deeds. 

With Egypt, we at once associate the touching story of 
Joseph and his brethren, one of the first instances show- 
ing how God overrules the evil designs of men to carry out 
his own purposes ; in that case, " to preserve his people and 
to save their lives by a great deliverance." 1 We think also 
of the fearful plagues sent upon it when the Lord would de- 
liver his people — the destruction of Pharaoh and his host — 
its myriads of mummies — its pyramids, its immense statues, 
and its vast ruins ; those of the temples of Luxor, and Kar- 
nac, and of the city of Thebes being the wonder and de- 
light of travelers to the present day. We remember its 
seats of literature and learning — its celebrated Alexandrian 
library — its first and great translation of the Bible, from the 
Hebrew into the Greek, known as the Septuagint — its 
Pharaohs, 2 its Ptolemies, and its fascinating Cleopatra. 

Standing on its foundation by Ham and Mizraim, and look- 
ing forward from this starting point, we see Egypt having 
growth, and power, and great monarchs of its own, for a 
period of nearly seventeen hundred years — the distant 
cloud, containing the lightning of God's wrath, continuing 
so small as to be almost imperceptible to the human eye. 
We see Egypt twice used to preserve the chosen seed ; Ja- 
cob and his household, and Jesus, the Son of God, taken 
down into Egypt to preserve them alive, and brought up 
thence according to the word, " Out of Egypt have I called 
my son." 3 We hear one of its proud monarchs, Pharaoh- 
hophra, or Apries, boasting of having established his king- 
dom so surely, that it was not in the power of any god to 
dispossess him of it ; 4 and, while he is speaking, we hear 
Ezekiel proclaiming the word of the Lord ; foretelling not 

1 Gen, xlv. 7. 

2 Pharaoh — Egyptian Phra, the king ; ra signifies sun and king. 

3 Hosea xi. 1 ; Matt. ii. 15. * Herodotus lib. ii. cap. 169. 

9 



130 FIRST THINGS. 

only the destruction of the proud king, but also, that Egypt 
" shall be the basest of the kingdoms ; neither shall it exalt 
itself any more among the nations." ' " And there shall be 
no more a prince of the land of Egypt." 2 

Egypt first appears in history in the time of Abraham, 
enjoying not a very creditable reputation. Abraham driven 
there by famine, had just grounds to fear that the Egyp- 
tians would kill him for the purpose of taking his wife away 
from him. 3 Their reputation in this respect, however, was 
not much worse than that of some of the other descendants 
of Ham, the Philistines, a hundred years after, when Isaac 
was driven, by another famine, to dwell among them. 4 Of 
the previous history of Egypt, and of most of its subsequent 
history for a thousand years, we have no reliable record. 
The history of Joseph, and that of the deliverance of the 
children of Israel about four hundred years after Abraham's 
visit, give us a glimpse of the country and of the people ; 
and then we again lose sight of Egypt in history for five 
hundred years ; when reference is again made to it in the 
reign of David ; and shortly after, we read of Solomon's 
making affinity with Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and marrying 
his daughter. 5 

The Egyptians from the first were idolaters. Their re- 
ligion, beside the worship of Ham, consisted, also, in the 
worship of the heavenly bodies and the powers of nature. 
It had the peculiarity of adopting living animals as symbols 
of the real objects of worship ; holding many of them sacred, 
keeping them in temples, and worshipping them with sacri- 
fices as gods. Their priests, as usual, the most powerful and 
honored of the castes in which the people were divided, cul- 
tivated at the same time astronomy and astrology. Of this 
class were, probably, the wise men, sorcerers, and magicians 
called by Pharaoh to compete, by their enchantments, with 

1 Ezek. xxix. 2, 15 ; Jerem. xlvi. 24, 25. 2 Ezek. xxx. 13. 

3 Gen. xii. 12. 14. 4 Gen. xxvi. V. 6 1 Kings iii. 1. 



EGYPT. 131 

Moses. 1 We shall have occasion to refer again to the early 
religion of Egypt in the chapter on first idolatry. 

Nearly fourteen hundred years after the history given by 
Moses, Manetho, an Egyptian priest, B. c. 150, by command 
of a Greek king then reigning in Egypt, wrote a history of 
Egypt in Greek. He said it was compiled from the annals 
kept by the priests in the temples, and from the legends and 
laws of his country. This history, unreliable as it must have 
been, is lost. Fragments of it have been preserved in the 
writings of Josephus, Eusebius, and others. Manetho could 
hardly have been without some knowledge of the Bible his- 
tory of the world's early days ; as in Egypt, more than a 
century before his time, the Scriptures had been translated 
into Greek. Three centuries before Manetho wrote, Herod- 
otus, while traveling through Egypt, also gathered from the 
priests such information as they could give him respecting 
its early history. He could not read the inscriptions on the 
monuments. We can judge what reliance can be placed on 
the information obtained from such sources by their writings. 
Manetho's first book commences with a list of the gods and 
heroes, and other superior beings, who reigned in Egypt be- 
fore the first mortal kings. When Herodotus told the 
Egyptians of the gods and heroes from whom the kings of 
Greece claimed descent, a dispute arose ; the Egyptians as- 
serting that no gods had reigned in Egypt for a much longer 
period than the time spoken of by Herodotus. They also 
told him, that since the time when the mortal kings had 
commenced to reign to their day, the sun had twice set in 
the east and risen in the west. In view of such an indefinite 
period, and writing from memory, no wonder, that he did 
not make his dynasties of the kings of Egypt agree with 
others, by a difference of ten thousand years. The history 
of Herodotus does not become trustworthy, till he reaches 
the time when Egypt became well known to the Greeks. 

l Ex. vii. 11, 22. 



132 PIEST THINGS. 

The most interesting field, therefore, outside of the Bible, 
from which to glean information of the early history of 
Egypt, is its monuments, and the inscriptions, ancient writ- 
ings and hieroglyphics, which are found so abundantly in its 
temples and in its tombs. As in the study of geology, there 
are few fields where the ignorance of learning, and the cre- 
dulity of infidelity, have been oftener displayed than in the 
attempts to decypher the Egyptian hieroglyphics : and then, 
by pretended discoveries, trying to overthrow the history 
God has given us of the creation of the world and its early 
days. Various contradictory and evidently erroneous inter- 
pretations of them have been made from time to time. They 
are still in a great degree of doubtful interpretation.* The 
famous Rosetta stone, dug up by Napoleon's soldiers when in 
Egypt and now in the British museum, with an inscription 
in Greek, in Egyptian hieroglyphics, and phonetic symbols, 
is proving a help to the decyphering of them. It is impos- 
sible that these records of former scenes and times can, when 
translated, make God a liar. Written by the seed of the 
Serpent, heathen haters of the truth, a doubtful reliance only 
can be placed on them ; and none at all, where they clash 
with the word of God. It is to be hoped, however, that they 

* Baron Bunsen, one of the celebrated writers on Egyptian hieroglyphics, 
on the faith of them carries back Egyptian history to an era which would 
make the Bible chronology impossible. Of Bunsen's ciphering the eminent 
Sir G. C. Lewis, in a work lately published, thus speaks : " Under their 
potent logic all identity disappears : everything is subject to become any- 
thing but itself. Successive dynasties become contemporary dynasties. One 
king becomes another king, or several other kings, or a fraction of another 
king : one name becomes another name ; one number becomes another num- 
ber ; one place becomes another place." With similar vivacity, the author 
knocks down the structure that Champollion raised on the hieroglyphics. 
He shows that the same symbol, according to the notion of the interpreter, 
is meant to have perfectly opposite meanings ; and that the most ingenious 
theories by which sense is extracted out of one set of signs, only makes the 
most incomprehensible nonsense when it is tried on a second set. Episcopal 
Recorder. 



EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS. 138 

may have been preserved for the purpose rather of throwing 
additional light on that word. 

According to Herodotus and Manetho, the first king of 
Egypt was called Menes, alluding to Mizraim, the son of 
Ham. A similar name is said to be inscribed on one of the 
palace-temples over the leader of a long procession of kings. 
With changing and opposing dynasties, during the fifteen 
hundred years from the Pharaoh of Abraham's time to the 
days of Herodotus, during which period Egypt was at times 
divided, and had two sovereigns reigning at once, one in 
Upper and the other in Lower Egypt ; and lost sight of the 
Bible history for periods of five hundred years at a time ; 
any arrangement of the early kings of Egypt in chronolo- 
gical order, if ever practicable, must be attended with great 
difficulty. 

There appears to have been an invasion by some of the 
descendants of Cush and Nimrod from Asia before the days 
of Abraham, which brought Lower Egypt for a time under 
the rule of the shepherd kings or Hyksos, as they were 
called. One of these probably ruled in Egypt when Abra- 
ham was there, as he needed no interpreter, and as among 
the gifts given to him by the king were Egyptian slaves, 
among whom was Hagar, the Egyptian bondwoman. A 
change of rulers appears to have occurred before Joseph's 
days, as then an interpreter was used, and slaves were 
brought from Canaan to be sold in Egypt. Joseph, allud- 
ing to the national hatred of the Hyksos, said, " Every shep- 
herd is an abomination to the Egyptians : " and also adopted 
the language, " Ye are spies " to his brethren, which inti- 
mated they came from a suspicious quarter. 

Among the Egyptian names celebrated by tradition and 
heathen history is that of Sesostris. For the variety of the 
works attributed to him, and the uncertainty regarding his 
existence and the time he lived, the name of Sesostris in 
Egypt corresponds with that of Semiramis in Assyria. There 



134 FIRST THINGS. 

were probably several kings of that name. To one Sesostris 
has been attributed the invention of the first geographical 
maps. In these the different parts of the known world were 
represented as members of a body of which Egypt was the 
heart. He was also said to have been one of the scribes of 
the sacred books, particularly that which taught the hiero- 
glyphic art. Herodotus declares that he saw the colossal 
statues of Sesostris, his wife and four children in front of one 
of the Egyptian temples, and also, pillars in Asia Minor and 
elsewhere recording the fact that " Sesostris, king of kings, 
subdued this country by the force of his arms." His con- 
quests are said to have extended in almost every direction. 

For more than two thousand years the prophecies in the 
word of God concerning Egypt have been fulfilling. During 
all that time Egypt has been, as she is at the present day, 
" without a native prince," and " the basest of the kingdoms." 
The time is yet future, when again " Princes shall come out 
of Egypt ; " 1 and the Lord shall say, " Blessed be Egypt, my 
people." 2 

1 Ps. lxviii. 31. 2 Isaiah xix. 18-25. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

01HEK DESCENDANTS OP HAM — THE CANAANITES — SIDON AND 
TYEE — THE PHILISTINES — AMALEKITES — AFKICANS. 

THE history of the other descendants of Ham has much 
of the same features as that of Babylon and Egypt. 
There was the same forsaking of the worship of the true 
God — the same perpetual hatred of the Lord's people — the 
same early worldly prosperity — followed by the same degra- 
dation or destruction. 

The Canaanites, descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, 
formed many nations : the Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites, Girg- 
ashites, Canaanites, Perizzites, and Hivites : all idolaters. 
Moses speaks of them as being " seven nations greater and 
mightier than the children of Israel," l who at that time num- 
bered millions. From some of these nations colonies were 
sent out into many of the islands of the Mediterranean and 
the coasts bordering upon it. Through trade and commerce 
they became rich. They also became abominably wicked. 
As judgments upon them, God first destroyed the cities of 
Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven ; and then, when 
the " cup of their iniquity was full," 2 the whole people, old 
and young, were doomed to destruction : the children of 
Israel, by the express command of God, were appointed the 
executioners ; and charged " utterly to destroy them." 3 Not 
at once fully obeying this divine command, the Canaanites 
remained " thorns in the side" 4 of Israel, as God foretold 
should be the case if Israel did not obey Him, five hundred 

1 Deut. vii. 1. 3 Dent. vii. 2. 

a Gen. xv. 16. * Numb, xxxiii. 55 ; Judges ii. 8. 

(135) 



136 FIEST THINGS. 

years : till at last they were completely subdued by David 
and Solomon. 

Sidon, the most ancient maritime city of Phoenicia, took 
its name from the first-born son of Canaan. The region 
along the sea coast of the land of Canaan was called Phoe- 
nicia by the Greeks, because of the number of palm trees, 
(Greek, phoinoJces) which grew there. 

Another city founded by the Phoenicians was Tyre: The 
cradle of commerce, Tyre extended her trade to every port 
and became the first mistress of the seas. A strong city in 
the days of Joshua, it was afterwards the ally of Solomon, 
and continued for centuries, through its commerce, gathering 
the riches of the world. Few cities have been more renowned 
than ancient Tyre. We have a graphic description of its 
wealth and glory in the twenty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel : 
we have also by the same prophet its doom foretold. Twenty- 
five centuries have been attesting the truth of the prophecies 
contained in God's word concerning Tyre. Whilst she was 
rejoicing over the troubles of Jerusalem, the message came : 
" Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O 
Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come against thee," 
" and they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and they shall 
break down thy walls and destroy thy pleasant houses ; and 
shall lay thy stones in the midst of the water. And I will 
make the noise of thy songs to cease ; and the sound of thy 
harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like 
the top of a rock ; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon ; 
thou shalt be built no more." l All this has been literally 
fulfilled. The ruins of her marble palaces, of her triple walls 
and her lofty towers, may now be seen half buried by the 
drifting sand or beneath the waters which roll over them. 
Such have been the incursions of the sea that even the once 
fertile plain of Tyre is a sandy waste. A few crazy fishing 
boats have taken the place of her immense navy, and fisher- 
1 Ezek. xxvi. 3, 12, 14. 



DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 137 

men are now using Tyre as a place for the spreading of their 
nets. 

The Philistines were part of the posterity of Mizraim, the 
second son of Ham. 1 Leaving Caphtor, 2 the north-eastern 
part of Egypt, they settled along the shore of the Mediter- 
ranean, destroying the Avims who before had dwelt there. 3 
The Philistines were powerful in Abraham's time. In the 
division of Canaan their territories were allotted to the tribe 
of Judah. They were enabled, however, for a long period 
to retain their independence. Their fortified cities, Ashke- 
lon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza and Gath, forming five Satrapies 
or lordships, often appear in the Bible history. Giants con- 
tinued among them till the time when Goliath was slain by 
David. For many centuries the Philistines were the most 
inveterate and troublesome enemies the Israelites had to en- 
counter, frequently conquering them and holding them in 
bondage. After maintaining a place in history for nearly 
two thousand years, they were finally subdued by Jonathan, 
brother and successor of Judas Maccabeus, B. C. 148 ; and 
their extinction followed about fifty years after, by Alexan- 
der Jannaeus, who burnt Gaza and incorporated the remnant 
of the Philistines with the Jews. 

Another nation descended, according to the Arabian his- 
torians, from Ham, was the Amalekites. Balaam, when 
prophesying against Amalek, speaks of them as " the first of 
the nations." 4 Their country is spoken of in Abraham's 
time. 5 They were always bitter enemies of the Israelites. 
They greatly annoyed them on their journey from Egypt, 
and afterwards, at different times, joined with others in com- 
bined attacks against them. After the attack in the wilder- 
ness, the Lord said to Moses, " Write this for a memorial in 
a book : I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek 
from under heaven." 6 Four hundred years after this the 

1 Gen. x. 14. 3 Deut ii. 23. 6 Gen. xiv. 7. 

2 Amos ix. 7 ; Jer. xlvii. 4. " Numb. xxiv. 20. B Exod. xvii. 14. 



138 FIRST THINGS. 

Lord said unto Saul, " Go and utterly destroy the sinners the 
Amalekites." 1 Saul did not fully obey : and in consequence 
was himself rejected of God ; and lost his kingdom. His 
excuse, that he had saved some things to sacrifice unto the 
Lord, did not avail him. He was told, " To obey is better 
than sacrifice." 2 They were finally destroyed by the Sim* 
eonites. 3 The last of the race that appears in history is Ha- 
man, who perished like his fathers in conflict with the Jews. 4 
The word of the Lord concerning the Amalekites has been 
fulfilled. 

The Ethiopians, or Cushites, were the descendants of Cush 
the eldest son of Ham. They first settled in a district called 
Chusistan, south of Babylon and west of Persia ; afterwards 
they extended into Arabia, and thence into Abyssinia south 
of Egypt. The wife of Moses was an Ethiopian or Cushite 
of Arabia. 5 

Some think that Phut, another son of Ham, removed to 
India, and became the father of the famous sect of Buddha ; 
he himself being the divine Buddha. 

The descendants of Ham early took the lead in arms, in 
architecture, and in the priesthood of the nations that for- 
sook God. They not only established their religious system 
in Assyria, India, and Africa, but extended it into Greece, 
and introduced the religion and the priesthood of the Druids, 
which once prevailed over the north of Europe and in the 
British Isles. As priests and warriors, the children of Ham 
thus became the early nobility or highest caste in all those 
countries. 

Ham is still represented by the inhabitants of one of the 
largest continents on the earth. Kept distinct for thousands 
of years, unlike the descendants of Shem and Japhet, the 
mass of the children of Ham made no progress in civilization 
or religion ; and they are at the present day the most abject 

1 1 Sam. xv. 18. ' 2 1 Sam. xv. 22. s 1 Chron. iv. 43. 

4 Esther vii. 10. 6 Numb. xii. 1. 



DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 139 

and degraded of the children of Adam. They are not only 
taken as slaves to other nations, but they make slaves of one 
another ; and worse still, they are the slaves of the most 
revolting and cruel superstitions. Within a few years the 
light of Christianity has again commenced dawning on the 
coasts of Africa : and through explorations recently made in 
the interior, previously almost inaccessible, the Lord appears 
to be opening a way for the Gospel, and through it for the 
elevation of the long degraded children of Ham. The time 
now appears to be near at hand when " Ethiopia shall stretch 
out her hands to God." i 

1 Psalms lxviii. 31. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

JAPHET AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 

FOUR thousand years ago a promise was made to Japhet 
coupled with a prediction : " God shall enlarge Japhet 
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall 
be his servant." l We have already noticed the fulfillment 
of the latter part of this prophecy. Japhet has long held 
rule over the children of Ham. The fulfillment of the first 
part has been steadily progressing for two thousand years. 
From Japhet sprang the two greatest of the ancient em- 
pires ; the Grecian and the Roman. The sons of Japhet 
have spread from Northern Asia over the continents of Eu- 
rope and America, and are now constantly enlarging their 
borders. His very name Japhet means enlargement. 

The other part of the prophecy is also being fulfilled. 
Japhet has been brought into the church, which was for so 
long a period only to be found in the tents of Shem ; and 
the present generation are seeing the literal fulfillment of 
the prophecy, in such cases as the English children of Japhet 
now occupying India and the great islands of the Pacific, 
habitations of the children of Shem. 

In the many nations said to be descended from Japhet, 
may be noticed affinities in mind, disposition and manners ; 
and similarity may also be perceived in the construction of 
the words and idioms of their languages. 

The sons of Japhet whose names are recorded, are " Gomer, 
Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meschech and Tiras." 2 He 

1 Gen. ix. 21. 2 Gen. x. 2. 

(140) 



DESCENDANTS OF JAPHET. 141 

had, doubtless, many others, but these were probably men- 
tioned, as being heads of nations. 

From Gomee, the eldest, we are descended. He is spoken 
of by Josephus as the father of the Celtas, the first inhabi- 
tants of Germany, France, Spain, Gaul and Great Britain. 
Three of his sons are mentioned. Of these Ashkenaz is 
supposed to be the Ascanius, who, according to Greek tra- 
dition, was the ancestor of the Phrygians, and after whom 
the Euxine, at first the Axine, sea was called. Togarmah 
is thought to be the ancestor of the Turks, who came from 
the north of Armenia. Ezekiel refers to the " house of To- 
garmah of the north quarters : ' ; and again, of their being- 
traders " with horses, and horsemen and mules," x for which 
the Turks have been famous. Of the other sons of Japhet, 
Magog is considered the father of the Scythian nations ; 
Madai, of the Medes ; Tiras, of the Thracians ; and Kittim 
of the Macedonians ; Javan, plainly settled in Greece ; that 
country being called by his name simplified, Iun, in the He- 
brew Scriptures. His name is also preserved in the Ionian 
sea and the Ionian dialect of the Greeks. The name of 
Elishah, one of the sons of Javan, is also connected with 
Greece ; Hellas, little differing from the Hebrew Elisha, was 
the name by which that country was called by its own in- 
habitants. Tubal and Meschech, the other sons of Japhet, 
are supposed to have gone north ; the latter giving name to 
Moesia, and both remembered in the names of Tobolsk and 
Muscovy. 

The descendants of Japhet, like those of the other sons of 
Noah, while spreading over the earth, carried with them 
traditions of their first great ancestor ; each nation making 
their history begin with the first king or first man in the 
world. One colony of the Greeks was called Argyves, from 
the ark or ship Argos : sometimes they were called Pelasgi, 
from Pelasgus, another name for Noah or Deucalion. 

1 Ezek. xxxviii. 6; xxvii. 14. 



142 FIRST THINGS. 

For a long period, the sciences, literature and civilization 
of tlie world were confined to the small portion of its sur- 
face lying in or near the spot where the worship and word 
of God were retained. As men separated themselves from 
that spot, they became more and more savage as the circle 
extended. In time the nations of the East bestowed the 
name of barbarians upon all strangers ; the Chinese still 
considering all foreigners as such. For a long time the soil 
of Greece was cold and marshy ; the people, being scattered 
in little tribes, were rude and barbarous. At the dawning 
of Attic civilization, Cecrops, an Egyptian, built a town on 
the site where afterwards the citadel of Athens rose in mag- 
nificence. He introduced morals and judicial regulations ; 
and the country became an asylum for the persecuted. Fes- 
tivals, compacts and laws thence extended their beneficial in- 
fluence. These, with the introduction of letters into Greece, 
laid the foundation of an empire which overran the world, 
and of a literature which yet holds a foremost place in it. 

For nearly twenty centuries after the prediction was ut- 
tered, the children of Japhet were little known or heard of. 
The word of God, however, was sure. Dwelling in the re- 
mote plains of Europe and Northern Asia, they were acquir- 
ing that vigor and strength which fitted them for enlarge- 
ment. Founding the Grecian and Roman empires, for the 
last two thousand years they have been the dominant race 
of the world. Their onward progress has been greatly ac- 
celerated in later ages by the impetus which it has received 
from the enlightening and civilizing influences of the gospel, 
which, hitherto, has been almost exclusively enjoyed by the 
descendants of Japhet. Having already a foothold in almost 
every part of the world, Japhet is yet " being enlarged." 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

SHEM AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 

SHEM means renown. He has the honor of being the 
ancestor of the patriarchs and prophets ; of the Is- 
raelites, the ancient chosen people of God ; and also of our 
blessed Lord himself. 

Bishop Newton and others think, that the words "He 
shall dwell in the tents of Shem" should be understood as 
referring, not to Japhet, but to God's dwelling in the tents 
of Shem ; when He so blessed him by His presence with the 
Shekinah of the ark, and by his choosing Shem's country for 
his appearance in the flesh. He dwelt exclusively among 
some of the descendants of Shem, as His peculiar people, 
manifesting His presence from time to time, for two thou- 
sand years. In either sense the prophecy is true. 

The division of the earth occurred in the days of Peleg, 
the fourth in descent from Shem. Prom this circumstance 
he was named Peleg, meaning division? We are told that 
" the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance •" 
and that He " set the bounds of the people according to the 
number of the children of Israel." 2 The greater part of cen- 
tral Asia was settled by the descendants of Shem. Canaan 
was assigned by the Lord to the children of Abraham long- 
before they had it. 

Those of the children of Shem, whose names are left on 
record, were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. We 
have already referred to Ashur and his descendants, the 
Assyrians. When we read of the Elamites and Lydians, 

1 Gen. x. 25. a Dent, xxxii. 8. 

(143) 



144 FIRST THINGS. 

we readily look back to Elam and Lud as the founders of 
those nations. Aram gave his name to ancient Syria. In 
the scriptures the Syrians and their language, when spoken 
of, are called Aramean. 1 The heathen writers also affirm 
that by that name they were formerly called. Naaman was 
an Aramean. Aram's name still lives in the country and 
people of the Armenians. Through Arphaxad ran the line 
of the promised seed. He was father of Eber, Abraham, 
and the Hebrews. 

Speaking of the descendants of Shem, Mr. George Rawlin- 
son says, " What is especially remarkable of the Semitic 
(Shem) family, is its concentration, and the small size of the 
district which it covers, compared with the space occupied 
by the other two. Once in the world's history, and once 
only, did a great movement proceed from the race and 
country, that of the Saracens, which was only temporary. 
It had not the power of any vigorous growth and enlarge- 
ment, like that promised to Japhet and possessed by the 
descendants of Ham. But with its physical and material 
weakness is combined a wonderful capacity for affecting the 
spiritual condition of our species. Semitic races have in- 
fluenced, far more than others, the history of the world's 
mental progress ; and the principal intellectual revolutions 
which have taken place are traceable in the main to them." 
The Jewish, the Christian, and the Mohammedan religions, 
the latter differing from all false religions in maintaining the 
unity of God, all came through the Semitic race. 

Shem lived five hundred and two years after the flood ; 
and died, according to the usually received computation, B. C. 
1846, aged six hundred years. Abraham must have been 
one hundred and fifty years old when Shem died. 

1 2 Kings v. 20 ; Ezra iv. 7 . 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM — SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH — FIRST 
PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL — THE JEWS — ISHMAELITES 

ESAU. 

THE lesson of God's wrath against the ungodly, and of 
his mercy towards them that trust in him, as taught by 
the flood, and by the saving of Noah and his household, was 
apparently fruitless. The survivors of the flood, while see- 
ing the earth rapidly replenished with their descendants, 
saw those descendants almost universally turning away from 
God. Satan was again the god of this world, even before 
the death of Noah and his sons. Even those whom God 
had chosen, as the line through which the promised Messiah 
was to come, became idolatrous. Joshua told the Jews, 
" Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood, even 
Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor ; and 
they served other gods." * The other side of the flood meant 
beyond the river Euphrates, where the ancestors of Abraham 
lived. They had not, however, entirely forsaken the true 
God ; for God is said to be the " God of Nahor." 2 

It was at this period, when the few who retained the 
knowledge and worship of Jehovah were scattered, like 
dying embers almost extinct, here and there over the earth, 
and the seed of the Serpent were rapidly filling it, that one 
of the most notable things in history occurred ; this was, the 
calling of Abraham. God, to carry out his purpose and pre- 
serve his church, called Abraham to leave his father's house 
and his country, and separated him and his household from 

1 Josh. xxiv. 2 ; Gen. xxxi. 19, 30. 2 Gen. xxxi. 53. 

10 (145) 



146 FIRST THINGS. 

the rest of mankind. This was a new thing in the world. 
God took one man from the rest of the race, gave him special 
promises, made covenants with him, and constituted him the 
" Father of the faithful " to the world. 

From that time, for two thousand years, the visible Church 
of God was confined to the family of this man ; and for 
fifteen centuries the history of this family is the only history 
of the world. During fifty generations of the children of 
Adam, the family of this man, or rather the descendants of a 
part of it, " elected according to the purpose of God," 1 en- 
joyed exclusive privileges : to the Israelites alone, " pertained 
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the 
giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; 
of them came the fathers, and of them as concerning the 
flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. 
Amen." 2 They were separated from the world by most strin- 
gent laws : and it was necessary during all that time for the 
rest of mankind to go up to Jerusalem to learn the way to 
be saved. The darkness of death overshadowed all other 
lands. Thanks be to God ! when the fullness of time was 
come, when salvation was completed by the life, death, and 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the reservoir 
of truth was thus filled, the gates were opened ; and the 
command was given to the Church to go forth and to pro- 
claim the glad tidings of salvation to all nations and to 
preach the Gospel to every creature. " The Gospel preached 
unto Abraham," before the giving of the law, " In thee shall 
all nations be blessed," was the first proclamation " that God 
would justify the heathen through faith." 3 

Nothing can more conclusively show the hand of God in 
directing the history of the world, and in controlling the 
affairs of nations, than the prophecies and the facts connec- 
ted with the history of Abraham and of his descendants. 
Two thousand years after the promise was made to him, 

1 Rom. ix. 11. 2 Rom. ix. 4. , Gai. iii. 8. 



THE JEWS. 147 

" In thy seed shall all the families, and all the nations of the 
earth be blessed," ' it was fulfilled in the advent of the Son 
of God, born of the seed of Abraham. The fearful prophe- 
cies of God concerning the descendants of Abraham, uttered 
before they entered the promised land, have been continually 
in progress of fulfillment, to the letter. The Jews have not 
only undergone the horrors of the siege, and the loss of 
their country, so graphically foretold and described in the 
28th chapter of Deuteronomy ; but they are, at this day, 
living witnesses to the truth of God's word. More than 
three thousand years ago, while on a conquering march, with 
visions of glory before them, they were warned of their future 
apostacy ; and were told of the judgments that should fall 
upon them and upon their land. It was said to them, " Thou 
shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word 
among all nations, whither the Lord shall lead thee." 2 
" These curses shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, 
and upon thy seed." 3 " The Lord shall scatter thee among 
all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other, 
and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither 
shall the sole of thy foot have rest." 4 This has been liter- 
ally the sad lot of this wonderful people for the last eighteen 
hundred years. 

Besides these foretold judgments upon the Jews, there are 
also in the Word of God promises of blessings yet to be en- 
joyed by them. In some of these the world has an interest. 
While telling the Israelites of the woes that should come 
upon them, God added : " And yet, for all that, when they 
be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, 
neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to 
break my covenant with them : for I am the Lord their 
God." 5 We are told " Blindness in part is happened to 
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so 

1 Gen. xii 3 ; xviii. 18 ; xxii. 18. 2 Deut. xxviii. 37. 

3 Deut. xxviii. 45 46. 4 Deut. xxviii. 64. 5 Levit. xxvi. 44. 



148 FIEST THINGS. 

all Israel shall be saved ; as it is written, there shall come 
out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness 
from Jacob." l Paul tells us, " Through their fall salvation 
is come unto the Gentiles." And he informs us that the 
world is again to be indebted to the Jews ; he says : " Now 
if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the dimin- 
ishing of them the riches of the Gentiles ; how much their 
fullness ?" 2 The restoration and conversion of the Jews is 
thus connected with the great ingathering of all nations 
into the Church of Christ ; and the time of this is at hand. 

The extraordinary predictions concerning the descendants 
of Ishmael, Abraham's oldest son, uttered by the Lord before 
Ishmael was born, have been wonderfully fulfilling ever 
since. His posterity have " multiplied exceedingly," and be- 
come " a great nation," in the Arabians ; and, while the con- 
ditions of the nations around them have been constantly 
changing, they are yet living, as they have for nearly four 
thousand years, like " wild men," shifting from place to place 
in the wilderness ; " their hand against every man, and every 
man's hand against them ;" and they are still " dwelling," 
an independent and free people, " in the presence of all their 
brethren." 3 

The predictions concerning Esau, the first-born of Isaac, 
have long since been accomplished. His family has become 
extinct, " cut off forever," so that there is none " remaining 
of the house of Esau." 4 Though their habitations " in the 
clefts of the rock" in Petra, are still the wonder of travelers ; 
" the things of Esau" have been " so searched out, and his 
hidden things sought up," 5 that not a relic can be found in 
their ancient dwellings. 

1 Rom. xi. 25. 2 Rom. xi. 11, 12. 3 Gen. xvi. 10, 12 ; xvii. 20. 

4 Obad 18 ; Jer. xlix. 17 ; Ezek. xxv. 13, etc. s Obad 6. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FAITH — FIRST FALSE RELIGIONS — FIRST IDOLATRY — FIRST 
WORSHIPPING OF IMAGES — ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY — INFI- 
DELITY 

NEXT to pride and selfishness, there is no principle of 
our nature more universal than faith. There is none 
so necessary to our peace as a faith well founded. Man lives 
by faith from the cradle to the grave. Alas ! how often he 
finds that it has been misplaced. The husbandman buries 
his seed with faith ; the sailor has faith in his vessel, in his 
compass, and in his charts. What would society be, if sud- 
denly every man should lose all faith ? If each should at 
once distrust his neighbor : if children should lose confidence 
in their parents — husbands in their wives — men in their 
friends : if there should be no faith in ministers, or physi- 
cians, or in the protection of the laws : and above all, if 
every one should at once lose all hope of the mercy of God ? 
Remove faith from the earth, and it would become at once a 
hell : and all men would at once become demons ; fearing, 
hating, and endeavoring to destroy one another. 

Faith is a necessity of our nature, springing from our rela- 
tions to God : for in Him we live, and move, and have our 
being. Every man at times realizes his utter helplessness, 
and his need of help from some superior power : he also is 
conscious that he is to render an account of his thoughts and 
his deeds. All, excepting the children of God, dread an un- 
certain future. Man therefore must have a religion. When 
created, the faith of man was placed in God, and he had per- 
fect peace. Satan tempted him to doubt ; fear and hatred 

(149) 



150 FIRST THINGS. 

of God followed ; man's faith became like a vessel adrift : 
and here we have the origin of all false religions. To fix 
the faith of man again on its proper object is the aim of all 
revelation. The Gospel call is, " Believe." He who believes 
the revelation God has made of His Son, receives the sealing 
of the Holy Spirit : ] there is no more condemnation for him : 
and the word of God assures him of having an eternal life. 2 

In following the progress of the false religions that have 
been in the world, we notice several remarkable features in 
which they all agree with one another and differ from that 
which God has instituted. 

There is a striking resemblance between the marvelous in 
the Bible and the marvelous in the religious history and sys- 
tems of the ancient heathen world. Some of this resem- 
blance is to be seen among the heathen even at the present 
day. 

All the religions of the earth show traces of having a com- 
mon origin. All false religions point to early facts common 
to them all : and, for the most part, all have retained the 
same rites and sacrifices of which we read in Scripture, as 
appointed and used in the service of Jehovah : all obviously 
derived from the original truth, though greatly corrupted 
and perverted. They " turned the truth of God into a lie." 

Not only are the leading historical facts recorded by 
Moses in the first chapter of Genesis, such as the creation, 
the primeval happiness of man, the fall, the deluge, etc., to 
be found in the traditions and the religions of all the ancient 
heathen nations ; but likewise, the shadows of nearly all the 
great doctrines of revealed truth. Ideas of a Supreme God 
— of God manifesting himself in the flesh — of an atonement 
— of a future state of rewards and punishment — of a heavenly 
deliverer to come, etc., may be traced, floating down through 
all ages, and in all religions, until " the Desire of all nations" 
came. 

1 Eph. i. 13. 2 1 John v. 13 ; Rom. v. 1 ; Gal. v. 22 ; Rom. iv. 1. 



FIRST FALSE RELIGIONS. 151 

In all ages the assertion has been true, that " there is none 
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must 
be saved," 1 but that of the Lord Jesus Christ. False re- 
ligions have aids : the Christian alone has a Saviour. 

While having so much in common, there are several other 
characteristics in which the false religions have always been 
entirely in opposition to the true. 

The religion which God has instituted is founded in love ; 2 
its " God is love ;" 3 its motive power is " the love of Christ 
constraining ;" i while every other religion that has ever 
existed, whether Paganism or a corrupted Christianity, has 
been founded in fear ; and its motive power is fear. 

Having lost the knowledge of God through the Fall, man, 
in his natural state, never has conceived a true idea of the 
nature, holiness, and perfections of God. Being impure him- 
self, he cannot imagine a pure God. " Unto them that are 
defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure." 5 For the same 
reason, such a character as the Lord Jesus Christ never could 
have been conceived by man. 

In all false systems of religion, salvation and peace are 
sought by a reliance on works, or human merits ; in God's 
plan, we are "justified by faith without the deeds of the 
law ;" 6 and " being justified by faith, we have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 7 

In all ages, Faith in Christ, working by love, has purified 
the heart and enabled its possessor to overcome the world. 
On the contrary, unbelief and false religions have always 
tended to moral and physical degradation. This result is 
inevitable from the difference of the gods worshipped. What 
force could such injunctions as, " Be ye holy, for I am holy," 
have, coming from such characters as Jupiter or Venus : or 
from infidels, such as Voltaire or Thomas Paine ? 

1 Acts iv. 12. 2 John iii. 16. a 1 John iv. 1-13, 16. 

4 2 Cor. v. 14 ; 1 John iv. 19. s Titus i. 15, 16. 

8 Rom. iii. 28. » Rom. v. 1. 



152 FIRST THINGS. 

As we have already noticed, the Deluge did not wash out 
the depraved nature of man. The judgments of God never 
do this. In the history of the Church, we see that even 
great deliverances, stringent laws, and the separation of the 
Church from the rest of the world, could not keep them from 
idolatry. Man must be born again. Immediately after the 
flood the corruption of the truth, therefore, grew naturally, 
and spread with the rapid increase of the population of the 
earth. Noah lived, after that event, three hundred and fifty 
years, and Shem, five hundred years ; before the death of 
Shem, almost the whole world had become idolaters. 

The corruption of religion being gradual, however, some 
knowledge of the true God was retained ; and, also, some 
of the forms of worship required by him. Bishop Horseley 
compares the early ages of incipient idolatry, when the wor- 
ship of idols was connected with the worship of the true 
God, to the Romanists, who pay such adoration to the virgin 
Mary and other saints, though still worshipping the Trinity. 
Amid the general idolatry which prevailed almost every- 
where, some persons were found from time to time, in different 
lands, who still acknowledged God. In Canaan Abraham 
met Melchizedec, who was so great a priest of the Most High 
God that even Abraham gave tithes to him. In Gerar, it 
is said, king Abimelech feared God. In later days we read 
of Job and his friends, who probably lived in Arabia, and 
also, of the prophet Balaam, who lived in Moab. Centuries 
after, Nebuchadnezzar aud Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus, by 
decrees made public recognition of Jehovah, as the true 
God. The first to welcome the Redeemer into the world 
were the magi or wise men from the East. The revela- 
tions which God made of himself to our first parents and to 
the patriarchs ; and the history of creation and of the first 
occurrences in the earth which He gave by the hand of 
Moses ; and fragments of some of the prophecies, especially 
that of a great Deliverer to come, found their way, and were 



FIRST IDOLATRY. 153 

retained, though in a corrupted form, in almost all na- 
tions. 

The only account of the religion adopted by those who 
forsook the worship of the true God before the flood, is that 
of Cain. No reference is made to idols or graven images 
during that period. From the first, Satan has continued to 
tempt mankind, as he did Jesus, by perverting sacred truths. 
The sacrifice, appointed by God to direct the faith and hope 
of men to the Saviour, was first perverted by Cain. The 
Lord's Supper, instituted as a commemoration, 1 not as a sac- 
rifice, for " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of 
many," 2 has since been perverted into an idolatrous worship 
by the Papists and other nominal Christians. Rejecting the 
sacrifice ordained and provided by God, the followers of 
Cain, if they offered at all, like him offered of their own 
works. Unitarianism was the first false religion. 

Shortly after the flood idolatry appeared in different forms. 
In Babylon, the sun and moon, and afterwards the other 
heavenly bodies, were first worshipped. The influence which 
the heavenly bodies exert on the earth, giving light and 
heat, causing vegetation, affecting the winds and the tides, 
etc., led men first to regard them as ministers of God, and 
then to worship them, as the dispensers of benefits. In 
Babylon was the great temple of Belus, or the sun. It was 
afterwards connected with the worship of Nimrod under the 
name of Bel or Baal, ruler. Sanchoniathon, the Chaldean 
historian, gives the following account of its establishment : 
" In the second generation of men, during a great drought, 
Genus and Genia (supposed by Bishop Cumberland to be 
Cain and Caina) stretched forth their hands to heaven, in 
adoration of the sun, for they supposed him to be Beel Jamin, 
or the Lord of the heavens. Afterwards in the fifth gener- 
ation, two pillars were consecrated to the elements of fire 
and wind." He also says, that after the flood, the first dei- 

1 Luke xxii. 19. 2 Heb. ix. 25, 28. 



154 FIEST THINGS. 

fied mortal was Noah, or Chryson, and that the several mem- 
bers of his family after their death were raised to the rank 
of gods, in connection with the heavenly bodies. The sect 
of the fire worshippers, which was very early founded, still 
exists in the East. Fire from heaven consuming the sacri- 
fices accepted of God probably led to the first worship of 
fire as symbolical of the Deity. Idolatry soon enlarged it- 
self into the deification and worship of every thing in nature, 
which had life, influence, or power ; especially generative 
power. The sun, moon, and stars ; the wind, fire, trees, 
vegetables ; beasts of the field, fowls of the air, — all had 
some energies and influence. They became gods to men, 
as having some of the attributes of the Creator ; and thus 
the doctrine of pantheism, which exists to this day, even in 
Christian lands, was introduced. They concluded, God was 
in all things, and all things were a part of God — God was 
the world, and the world was God. The learned Cudworth 
says, " The pagans agreed in two things ; first, in breaking 
and crumbling the Deity into many gods ; second, in deifying 
all things." 

Becoming by idolatry more and more degraded, men at 
last began to worship inanimate things, and even the works 
of their own hands. Then we see a rational being, so called, 
such a fool as is so graphically described by the prophet 
Isaiah : " He heweth down cedars. He burnetii part thereof 
in the fire. With part thereof he eateth flesh ; he roasteth 
roast and is satisfied ; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, 
Aha, I am warm : and the residue thereof he maketh a god, 
his graven image : he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth 
it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me ; for thou art 
my god." ] 

The degradation of the Egyptians in their idolatry made 
their worship an object of derision to the heathen satirists. 
Rhodius Anaxandrides, as translated by an old author, says : 

1 Isaiah xliv. 14-1 7. 



FIRST IDOLATRY. 155 

I sacrifice to God the beef, which you adore. 
I broil the Egyptian eel, which you (as God) implore. 
You fear to eat the flesh of swine, I find it sweet ; 
You worship dogs, to beat them I think meet, 
When they my store devour." 

And Juvenal, as translated by the same author, says 

" The Egyptians think it sin to root up, or to bite 
Their leeks or onions, which they serve with holy rite ; 
happy nations, which of their own sowing 
Have store of Gods in every garden growing." 

This degraded worship was preferable, however, to the 
cruel and horrid rites of some of the heathen, such as the 
Canaanites and their colony Carthage and Tyre in their 
worship of Molock and Kronos or Baal. They threw their 
children, chosen out of the best families, into the arms of an 
idol, which stood in the midst of a fire with arms stretched 
out sloping down, so that the children dropped into the 
glowing furnace below. The Persians and other nations 
buried people alive in sacrifice ; Amestis, wife of Xerxes, 
buried twelve persons alive for the good of her soul. The 
offering of human victims has been almost everywhere com- 
mon ; it existed in America when discovered, and it exists 
in portions of the earth to this day. In Mexico from twenty 
to fifty thousand victims were said to haA r e been offered 
yearly. In some nations, not cannibal, portions of these 
human sacrifices were eaten in obedience to their religion. 
In times of emergency, or to ensure success, many communi- 
ties would offer human victims, and individuals their own 
children in sacrifice. In times of public calamity, hundreds 
of children would at once be seized and offered in sacrifice 
to appease the anger of their gods. In all ages men have 
been offering " the fruit of their bodies for the sin of. their 
souls." In reviewing the sacrifices of the nations, and con- 
sidering the cruel natures of the gods that required such 
sacrifices, Plutarch, himself a heathen, was compelled to ex- 



156 FIRST THINGS. 

claim, " Tell me now, if the monsters of old — the typhons 
and giants of old — were to expel the gods and rule the world 
in their stead, could they require a service more horrid than 
these infernal rites and ceremonies ?" The heathen never 
conceived that " God is love." 

The worship of animals was probably first introduced as 
emblems of particular attributes or traits esteemed by their 
worshippers ; as the ox, strength ; the lion, courage ; etc. 
The Greeks refined upon this mode, by making deities of 
these traits bearing human forms ; and representing them by 
images or statues ; as Mars, the god of war ; Minerva, the 
goddess of wisdom ; Venus, of beauty, etc. They, however, 
further degraded their gods by deifying their own passions. 

The worship of ancestors, and of deceased heroes, was 
early adopted. The children of Ham in Egypt, as we have 
noticed, worshipped him, as the founder of their nation and, 
according to their idea, of the human race, under the names 
Amoun and Chem. 1 Afterwards, many of the minor gods of 
the Greeks came in this way. The worship of deceased 
rulers commenced with Nimrod, and was continued till the 
times of the early Roman emperors ; many of whose coins, 
struck after their decease, gave them the title of gods. 
Even the star, to which Julius Caesar was supposed to have 
ascended, was worshipped. Some courted, and even received 
that honor during their lifetime. When Herod once made 
an oration, the people shouted " It is the voice of God and 
not of a man." 2 The Romish Church has adopted the same 
species of idolatry in the adoration of the Virgin Mary, of 
the Saints, and of their relics and images. 

Bishop Meade speaking of the tendency of man to idolatry 
says, " It is difficult to divest our own sacred poetry of the 
language of idolatry, as for instance in the beautiful hymn : 

1 The powers of the two Hebrew consonants forming the name of Ham 
are equal to our <k and m. 
5 Acts xii. 22. 



ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY. 157 

' Star of the East, the horizon adorning, 
Dawn on our darkness,' etc., etc. 

And in our great national song : 

' Hail, Columbia, happy land ! 
Hail, ye heroes, heaven-born band !' 

" How few, in repeating and singing these lines, consider 
that they are using the language of paganism !" 

Whatever remains of the truth were kept in the different 
false religions which have appeared on earth, in all, how- 
ever, is seen the slimy track of the serpent. In many of 
them he is openly worshipped ; in all, his controlling influ- 
ence as the god of this world is shown. The heathen not 
only acknowledged the existence of malignant spirits or 
demons ; but the evil spirit or principle has been worshipped 
all over the world in some form or other, with a view to 
avert calamities ; and wherever the devil had most power, 
and idolatry and wickedness most prevailed, there the sym- 
bol or sign of the serpent was most used. " In a short time," 
says an able writer, " the power of the devil was such, that 
he outstripped God himself in the number and splendor of 
his temples, the number of his votaries, and the pomp of his 
worship. And this was almost always accompanied with 
more or less of the symbol of the serpent." 

Varro, the Roman historian, in speaking of the gods, says, 
" They call those gods which, if they had life and breath, 
and a man should meet them unexpectedly, would pass for 
monsters." Necessarily the character of their deities con- 
tributed much to demoralize the heathen. Their examples, 
and their worship, sanctioned the most infamous vices. It is 
impossible to describe them without shocking purity and 
modesty. No wonder then that their worshippers often 

" Sought to merit heaven 
By making earth a hell." 

That there were men in early days trying to persuade 



158 FIRST THINGS. 

themselves and others that they were infidels, we may infer 
from the expression in the Psalms : " The fool hath said in 
his heart, There is no God." ' A wicked heart has shown 
many a man with brains to be a fool. That infidels have 
always been despicable, even among the heathen, we may 
judge from Homer making Hector say, 

" The weakest atheist wretch all heaven defies, 
But shrinks and shudders when the thunder flies." 

The French Eevolution, in 1793, shows us the natural 
fruit of infidelity. The convention of France, after abolish- 
ing the Sabbath, dethroned the King of Heaven by a formal 
act ; and then worshipped a naked prostitute as the goddess 
of reason. Speaking of France at this period, Alison in his 
history of Europe, goes on to say : " The services of relig- 
ion were now universally abandoned ; baptisms ceased ; the 
burial service was no longer heard ; the sick received no 
communion ; the dying, no consolation. The village bells 
were silent ; the sabbath was obliterated ; infancy entered 
the world without a blessing, and age left it without hope. 
On every tenth day, a revolutionary preacher ascended the 
pulpit and preached atheism to the bewildered multitude. 
On all the public cemeteries was placed this inscription, 
' Death is an eternal sleep. 7 At the same time, the most 
sacred relations of life were placed on a new footing. Mar- 
riage was declared a civil contract, binding only during the 
pleasure of the contracting parties. A decree of the con- 
vention also suppressed the academies, public schools, and 
colleges, including those of medicine and surgery. And in 
this general havoc, even the establishments of charity were 
not safe. The revenues of the hospitals and humane insti- 
tutions were confiscated, and their domains seized as part of 
the national property." The vilest men then rose to power ; 
and the most horrible butchery of thousands of her best citi- 

1 Psalm xiv. 1. 



INFIDELITY. 159 

zens, men, women, and children, followed ; and all France 
soon ran with blood. Thus human reason, a traitor since 
the fall, shows what it will do when it is made a god. 

The religions of the world have always formed a very im- 
portant part of its history. When Adam altered his rela- 
tions to God through the fall, the instant change which 
came upon his moral and physical nature, affected his whole 
future history ; and not only his, but also that of all his pos- 
terity. Ever since, according to the character of their re- 
ligions, have nations been elevated or debased. It will 
always be seen that " righteousness exalteth a nation ;" 1 and, 
" happy is that people whose God is the Lord." 2 

1 Prov. xiv. 34. 2 Psalms cxliv. 15. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

ANCIENT TRADITIONS — CREATION — CHAOS — SABBATH — GARDEN 
OF EDEN — MAN, ONE FAMILY — EARLY GOLDEN AGE — DE- 
TERIORATION OF THE RACE THE FALL — SATAN — THE 

SERPENT — THE DELUGE — MOUNTAINS — CHERUBIMS — TOWER 
OF BABEL — EARLY GIANTS — END OF THE WORLD — AFRICAN 
TRADITIONS. 

ALMOST all nations have retained, through tradition, 
some ideas of creation, of the Fall, of the Deluge, and 
of the other great facts connected with the early history of 
the world ; all clearly derived from the same original source. 
The universality of a tradition serves to confirm the historical 
truth of the fact on which it was founded : the word of God, 
however, needs no such testimony. These traditions are 
worthy of an examination, as they are part of history, and 
have helped to form it. 

Creation, Chaos. — The first heathen writings, which have 
come down to us perfect, are those of the poets Hesiod and 
Homer. They flourished about B. C. 900 ; a century after 
Solomon had electrified the earth by his wisdom. Hesiod's 
account of the origin of all things evidently presents scraps 
of distorted truth. He says, that Chaos (which answers to the 

Note. — In preparing this and some of the following chapters free use 
has been made of a learned and interesting work, entitled " The Bible and 
the Classics," by the late Rev. William Meade. Such as desire to examine 
more fully into the connection between the Bible and the many gleams of 
primitive truth which have found their way into the religions of the heathen, 
and are scattered through the writings of the ancient heathen philosophers 
and poets, will be gratified by that work. 
(160) 



TRADITION — SABBATH — GARDEN OF EDEN. 161 

" without form and void " of the Bible) was the parent of 
Earth, of Erebus, and of Night. The Hebrew word for even- 
ing is erev, from which Erebus seems to have been formed. 
From Erebus and Night, he goes on to say, came the Sky and 
Day. From Earth came Heaven, Hills, Groves, etc. From 
Heaven and Earth came Ocean, etc. All these, which in the 
Bible history appear in beautiful succession, created by the 
word of God, the poet makes gods ; and then adds fables con- 
cerning them that shock both common sense and decency. 
Some of the Greeks, dissatisfied with Hesiod's fables, invented 
fresh ones. The Athenians called themselves " sons of the 
earth " and " children of the clay," claiming that their fore- 
father was the first of created beings ; having a plain reference 
to the creation of Adam. Before Hesiod's time, Orpheus had 
taught that, In the beginning were chaos and a thick darkness ; 
that light burst forth ; that the sun, moon and stars came out 
of chaos ; and that man was formed out of dust, and was en- 
dued with a rational soul by a supreme creative divinity. 
Thales, six centuries later, after learning wisdom in the 
East, taught nearly the same. The Phoenicians, according 
to Sanchoniathon, held, that dark air and chaos, mixed, 
formed the rudiments of all things ; then appeared the sun, 
moon and stars ; afterwards the fishes and the finite crea- 
tion, and last of all two mortals were formed, the parents of 
the human race. Chaos, or water, or some fluid mass, is 
spoken of in the writings of many of the ancient philosophers 
and poets as that out of which the Great Mind made all 
all things. In time chaos itself was deified. 

Sabbath. — We have already noticed the fact of the Sab- 
bath having found its way among almost all nations. Ac- 
cording to the Institute of Menu, the Hindoostanees hold that 
after the Supreme Power had created the universe he again 
retired into himself, from a state of energy to one of repose. 
God rested. 

Garden of Eden. — The idea of the Garden of Eden also 
11 



162 FIRST THINGS. 

appears in the writings of Hesiod. He describes the first 
period of human existence as a golden age. Men lived like 
gods, without pain, or care, or old age ; the fields yielded 
their fruits un tilled ; and every day was crowned with hap- 
piness. Death comes into his account, but it was only a 
painless translation to another state. The Grecian fable, 
the story of the Garden of the Hesperides, and of the golden 
apples guarded by a dreadful dragon, that never slept, was 
probably founded on some tradition concerning the tree of 
life in the Garden of Eden, and of the guard placed at the 
entrance after man's fall. According to the fable, Hercules, 
the strong man of the^ ancients, partly human and partly 
divine, killed the dragon, and gathered the apples. This 
part of the fable may have arisen from the first promise : 
that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the 
serpent, the old dragon, and thus the way to the tree of life 
should be again opened. 

Man, one family. — The traditions of all nations, connected 
even with their religions, point in some form to Noah and 
his sons, as the fathers of the present race of men. Thus 
uniting in their testimony that all mankind are of one blood. 

Early golden age — Deterioration of the race. — The ancient 
poets and philosophers speak of four successive ages through 
which the world had been passing, the golden, the silver, 
the brazen, and the iron. The comparative value of the 
metals representing their characters. Some of them speak 
of two such series ; the first beginning at creation, the sec- 
ond after the deluge. That the first age of each was the 
purest, and that each successive period was marked by 
gradual deterioration, all history, both sacred and pro- 
fane, attest most clearly. The experience of six thou- 
sand years confirms the word of God, as to the constantly 
falling state of man, and gives the lie to infidel teachers and 
pretended moral reformers, who teach that man can elevate 
himself. Instead of progressing morally or physically, all 



TRADITION THE FALL THE SERPENT. 163 

history, as well as the condition of the nations of the world 
at the present day, shows that man, in proportion as he is 
left to himself, and is without the influence of the Word and 
the Spirit of God, has always had a tendency to greater cor- 
ruption ; and is thus continually fulfilling the prophetic sen- 
tence pronounced at the fall, " Dying thou shalt die." 

The Fall. — The Greek fables, relate that the first woman 
was made by the chief god, and gifted by all the lesser divin- 
ities (hence her name Pandora, i. e., all gifts), on purpose to 
punish a certain man (Promotheus, a name signifying more 
cunning) for attempting to deceive the chief god about a 
sacrifice. Hesiod, after elegantly describing all the various 
beauties of this fair creation, entitles her " a lovely mischief 
to the soul of man." To this first woman, says the poet, the 
chief god (Jupiter) gave a box, desiring her to present it to 
her husband ; and when he opened it, out came all sorts of 
evils and diseases, which spread themselves abroad, and al- 
tered the whole condition of the human race. In this we 
see the relics of the tradition of Adam tempted by Eve. and 
the direful consequences of sin : the end of the fable makes 
it appear that the notion of some promise connected with 
the Woman was also afloat in the world. At the bottom of 
Pandora's box, Hope is said to have remained, easing the 
labors, and alleviating the troubles and sorrows of the 
human family. 

Satan — The Serpent. — In the Gothic theology, which was 
brought from the East, we have an account of a celebrated 
tree, which was the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, with 
an infernal serpent ever gnawing at its root. The god Thor, 
their middle divinity or mediator between God and man, is 
said " to have bruised the head of a great serpent." In 
India, two sculptured figures are yet extant in one of their 
oldest pagodas, one of which represents Chrishna, an incar- 
nation of Vishnu, trampling on the crushed head of the ser- 
pent, while the other exhibits the serpent encircling the deity 



164 FIRST THINGS. 

in its folds, and biting his heel. In regard to the form of 
the first appearance of Satan, Mr. Hardwic, after a most 
elaborate search into all ancient history and tradition, says, 
" There is found to be a most singular concert in east and 
west, north and south, in civilized and semi-barbarous coun- 
tries, in the old world and the new, not only to the fact that 
serpents were somehow associated with the ruin of the hu- 
man family, but that serpents so employed were vehicles of 
a malignant personal spirit, by whatever name he was de- 
scribed." In all nations there seems to be an instinctive 
horror of serpents, and a feeling, that, without pity or re- 
morse, they are to be crushed under foot. 

The Deluge. — Traditions of the Deluge have been 'almost 
universal in all ages and among all nations. Josephus speaks 
of the many Gentile historians who confirmed the Mosaic 
account of the deluge and the ark. Among others he quotes 
Berosus, the collector of the Chaldean antiquities ; who in 
his account of Zizuthrus, the first Chaldean, almost repeats 
the story of Noah and the ark. After stating that Zizuthrus 
and his family had been taken up to heaven and made gods, 
Berosus adds, that the remains of the vessel were to be seen 
in his time, on one of the mountains of Armenia, and that 
people were wont to scrape the bitumen with which it had 
been coated to use as charms. The Egyptians called their 
most ancient vessels baris, a name given to the spot where 
the ark rested ; and the model of a boat was carried about 
at one of their religious festivals. The Greeks delighted in 
the story of the sacred ship Argo, according to them the first 
ship ever constructed ; from which our word ark is probably 
derived. The Greeks, through tradition and their poets, 
when their written history began, had accounts of seven dif- 
ferent floods. That known as Deucalion's flood is most cele- 
brated. The account given of that by Lucien is very similar 
to the Mosaic account. Deucalion alone, of the whole gen- 
eration, was saved with his sons and their wives in an ark ; 



TRADITION — MOUNTAINS. 165 

while embarking, all kinds of animals came and entered the 
ark with him, and were kept in harmony and from injur- 
ing him through the influence of the Deity. Traditions of 
the Deluge were found among the Druids of Europe, and 
among the inhabitants of America when it was first discov- 
ered. Dr. Arnold observes : " All the nations who have pre- 
served any traditions of the remotest ages, agree in asserting 
that an elder generation had perished." 

Mountains. — In the Bible history we find mountains often 
mentioned, as places where sacrifices had been offered, and 
special revelations from God received. On Mount Ararat, 
Noah, after leaving the ark, built an altar and offered sacri- 
fice. Abraham was sent to Mount Mori ah to sacrifice Isaac. 
The Lord appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb, and again 
to Israel, and delivered the law on Mount Sinai. The Lord 
chose Mount Zion for the site of the temple. Jesus gave the 
Sermon on the Mount, retired to mountains to pray, made 
Mount Olivet his favorite resort, and from a mountain as- 
cended up to heaven. It is not strange, therefore, that the 
use of mountains found its way into idolatrous religions. In 
the Scriptures we find God's oft repeated denunciations 
against the high places in Israel, on which sacrifices were 
offered to the gods of the heathen. Among the heathen, 
Mount Olympus was the favorite seat of the Grecian gods ; 
Mount Parnassus was the haunt of the Muses. The Persians 
used the highest mountains in order to worship and sacri- 
fice. Mount Athos in Macedonia has been a holy mountain 
from the earliest period to the present day. Almost all the 
ancient nations had their high mountains in esteem as places 
of public worship. And what is more remarkable, all of 
them make one of these high mountains the abode of the first 
gods, who were the fathers of the human race, and also the 
place where the ark of the deluge rested. To prevent a su- 
perstitious use of mountains, or of any particular locality for 
religious worship, the Lord Jesus made that memorable 



166 FIRST THINGS. 

reply to the woman of Samaria, which ever since has made 
God's throne of grace accessible to man, from every part of 
the earth. She had told him " Our fathers worshipped in this 
mountain." His reply was, " The hour cometh when ye shall 
neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the 
Father," " God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must 
worship in spirit and in truth." 1 

The Cherubim. — When Adam and Eve were expelled 
from paradise, God placed on the eastern side of the garden 
certain beings, called cherubims, to keep the way of the tree 
of life. 2 Moses gives no description of the form of these 
beings ; not even when the cherubims were to be made for 
the tabernacle. Ezekiel had visions of the cherubims, and 
gives a minute description of them. 3 He describes them as 
compounded of four different animals, viz., the man, the bull, 
the lion and the eagle : the man being the most prominent. 
It is remarkable that John in his vision 4 of the throne of God 
in heaven, speaks of seeing four beasts, or rather, four living 
creatures around the throne ; and these also were like a 
man, a calf, a lion, and an eagle. So remarkable an appear- 
ance, says Mr. Faber, as that of the cherubim, could not 
easily be forgotten. The form of this great hieroglyphic, 
the first and source of all others, was doubtless familiar to 
Noah ; and the symbol was afterwards placed in the taber- 
nacle. The monstrous compounds which appear so frequently 
in ancient religions and history, were doubtless derived from 
the cherubims. Growing out of traditions of this strange 
being, according to learned men, was the celebrated dog 
Cerberus, with three heads- — the dog, the wolf, and the lion — 
and who, according to the Greeks, was the keeper of hell : 
also, Hecate, or the infernal Diana, represented as having 
the heads of a horse, a dog, and a lion. The Osiris of the 
Egyptians, and Moloch, and Mithras were many-headed. 

1 John iv. 20. 3 Ezek. i. 5-10 ; x. 8. 

2 Gen. iii 24. 4 Rev. iv. 6, 



TRADITION — BABEL — GIANTS. 167 

The Minotaur had the head of a man and the body of a bull. 
In the Zendavesta of the Persians two persons appear, one 
at the beginning of the old world, and the other at the be- 
ginning of the new, compounded of a man, a bull, and a 
horse. The celebrated Sphinx had the head of a woman, the 
wings of a bird, the claws and body of a lion. In the Hin- 
doo system there is a being composed of a man and an eagle, 
which is placed in a pass leading to their high garden, called 
Garuda ; answering to the garden of Eden ; and, it is re- 
markable, the office of this creature is to prevent the approach 
of serpents. 

The Toiver of Babel—Early Giants.— -The Tower of Ba- 
bel, according to Berosus, the Chaldean historian, was erected 
by giants, who waged war with the gods, and who were at 
length dispersed, and the edifice beaten down by a great 
wind. In the ancient poems called the " Wars of the Ti- 
tans," great giants are represented as having, in the early 
ages of the world, attempted to assault heaven ; piling moun- 
tain on mountain, " Pelion on Ossa," and hurling burning 
rocks against the sky. In these we have traditions of the 
early giants, of the rebellion of men against God, and of the 
attempted building of the Tower of Babel. These fables of 
the Greeks, although rejected by their philosophers in later 
times, were received by the people ; and had their influence 
in moulding their religious views. 

End of the World. — Josephus relates a singular Jewish 
tradition, having a reference to the coming destruction of 
the world by fire. " The children of Seth ," he says, " were 
the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is con- 
cerned with the heavenly bodies and their order ; and un- 
derstanding by Adam's prediction, that the world was to be 
destroyed at one time by fire, and at another time by water, 
they made two pillars, one of brick, the other of stone, on 
which they inscribed their discoveries, hoping that the for- 
mer at least would be standing after the deluge, and transmit 



168 FIRST THINGS. 

their knowledge to mankind." " This," adds Josephus, " re- 
mains in the land of Syria to this day." The pillar alluded 
to, and which Josephus professes to have seen, is supposed 
to have been one that was erected by one of the kings of 
Egypt to commemorate his victories. A belief that the 
world, at some future period, would be destroyed by fire was 
spread far and wide through the ancient world. The Sibyl- 
line verses, whatever be their origin, had contributed much 
to this. Plato tells us that the Egyptians, and, Cicero, that 
the Stoics, held such a belief. Plutarch speaks of the ele- 
ments of the world, as things to be burnt up with it, and to 
end with time. 

African Traditions. — In a communication giving an ac- 
count of the theology and worship of the pagan African, 
Bishop Payne, speaking of their mythology, says : " You will 
share in the surprise I felt on the discovery of the resem- 
blance of this system to that of the heathen in all ages, and 
to some of the great truths of revelation. I will give the 
account of this very much in the language in which I received 
it from an aged Grebo deya, or demon-man : " In the begin- 
ning, God (or Nyesoa — wye, man, soa, abiding, — very like 
Jehovah, the Eternal One) lived on earth among men. Then 
there was no sickness, no sorrow, no death. After a time, 
however, Nyesoa let fall from his hands We, witchcraft, — or 
that which causeth death. A woman got hold of this : soon 
a death followed. Men, dismayed, went to Nyesoa to ask 
the cause. He replied that We had fallen from him, and 
was in possession of a woman. She had caused the death. 
He told them, moreover, that he would now direct them to 
a test by which they could ascertain the guilt or innocence 
of the woman, and others suspected of like crime. He 
showed them the gidu-tree, and directed them to make an 
infusion of the bark and administer it to the woman. If 
guilty, it would cause her death ; if innocent, she would 
vomit it and escape. The woman drank the mixture and 



AFEICAN TEADITIONS. 169 

died. Before this, however, she had succeeded in conveying 
this mysterious We to her children. Thus sickness and death 
overspread the world. Men became so corrupt that Nyesoa 
told them he could no longer dwell among them ; and he 
withdrew to heaven. Before leaving, however, he assured 
them he should always take an interest in their affairs, and 
that he would leave among them a class of men through 
whom they could communicate with him. This class are 
the deyabo, or demon-men." 

In this narrative, continues Bishop Payne, " we have the 
professedly divine origin of gidu, or ' sassa-wood,' remind- 
ing one of ' the waters of jealousy,' and used all through 
Central Africa as a test of witchcraft and other crimes ; — 
the account, so nearly Scriptural, of God's dwelling with 
men, the introduction of evil by woman, and the deyabo, 
representing almost exactly Balaam and the false prophets 
and oracles of all heathen countries ; — the idea being, in all 
these cases, that the daimon of the Greks, — the Ku of the 
Greboes, — is sent by Nyesoa, or the Supreme Being ; and 
hence the responses or directions of those acting under the 
influence of these spirits have a divine sanction." 

The fables which appear in the first heathen writings and 
which helped to form their religious systems, were doubtless 
founded, or partly so, on traditions which were then float- 
ing among the nations, and which had come down the stream 
of time, constantly becoming more muddy, as men perverted 
or added to the original truth : some of these writings, how- 
ever, appeared after the glory of the riches and wisdom of 
Solomon, and doubtless some ideas of his religion, had spread 
over the earth. It may be that the Greeks, as they obtained 
their letters from the Phoenicians and the Hebrews, may 
also have attained the foundations of some of these ideas 
from that source. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

DOCTRINAL TRUTHS RETAINED AMONG THE HEATHEN — ONE GOD 
— THE TRINITY — THE WORD OF GOD, THE CREATOR — GOD 
MANIFEST IN THE FLESH — THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL — 
GHOSTS — AN ATONING SACRIFCE. 

NOT only were the prominent facts of creation, and of 
the world's early history, as recorded by Moses, re- 
tained by all nations ; but likewise, many of those great 
doctrines of revealed truth, upon a proper knowledge of 
which man's happiness depends. They also retained, in 
some form or other, the divinely appointed mode of approach 
to God through an atoning sacrifice. Let us now examine 
the views of some of these doctrines held by the early 
heathen. 

One God. — The heathen, with their innumerable gods, 
generally acknowledged one, as supreme. Homer, one 
of the earliest heathen writers, speaks of Jupiter, as having 
the attributes of the true God, in such expressions as these, 

" thou supreme, high throned, all height above." 
" Supreme of gods, unbounded and alone." 
" Father of gods and men." 

Before this, Orpheus had written, 

" All things were made by God," 

And Hermes, the most ancient of Egyptian writers, wrote, 

" The Lord of eternity is a great God." 
" It belongs to the great God to see all things, 
And to be seen of none." 

Referring to the existence of an eternal being, the Crea- 
"(170) 



DOCTRINAL TRUTHS IN TRADITION. 171 

tor of the world, Aristotle said, " There is one God, the 
king and father of all ; and many gods, sons of gods, co- 
reigners with God ; these things both the Greeks and bar- 
barians alike affirm." Plutarch said, Though there were 
one, fifty, or an hundred worlds, they were all subject to one 
supreme, solitary, and independent God. He also informs 
us that the inhabitants of Thebais, one of the ancient divi- 
sions of Egypt, never would acknowledge any mortal god ; 
but worshipped an unmade, eternal Deity. The Stoics held 
one God supreme and eternal, while the world was full of 
gods and demons : the latter created by the one God, and 
one day to be destroyed by him. Most of the ancient 
philosophers considered the gods as being part of the 
Supreme ; and used the term gods and god as synonymous. 
The Buddha and Brahma of India were the same with Ju- 
piter. Their votaries, who never mingle on other occasions, 
will meet and worship together at the dreadful feast of Jug- 
gernaut or Jagan-Nath, " The Lord of the earth" their great 
common Lord. The American Indians retained so clear a 
view of the one Great and Good Spirit (though they also 
worship the evil one), and they were also so free from the 
cruelties connected with the idolatries of the ancient world, 
that some have supposed them to be remnants of the lost ten 
tribes of Israel. This general acknowledgment of the Su- 
preme God, the poet Pope, more celebrated as a poet than 
as a Christian, refers to in his universal prayer, 

" Father of all, in every age, 
In every clime adored 
By saint, by savage, and by sage, 
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord." 

Mixed with these apparently clear views of the one Great 
God, these first heathen writers introduced the most ridicu- 
lous fables : which succeeding writers added to, and per- 
verted, until the gods they worshipped, by the characters 



172 PIEST THINGS. 

they gave them, and the actions they attributed to them, 
were monsters of iniquity, and more vile and licentious than 
the worst of men. 

The Trinity. — Among the names which God has employed 
to reveal himself to us is that Great Name, " The Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost ;" three persons in one Gocl. It is 
remarkable, that the doctrine of the Trinity has been re- 
tained, or has found its way in some form, in almost all the 
great religions of the earth. 

The histories of Adam and of Noah, and of the three sons 
of each, which are named in the Bible, doubtless contributed 
to this. The fathers of the race were united by tradition, 
and were looked up to and worshipped as their gods through- 
out the whole heathen world. Homer, who systematized 
the pagan mythology, clearly shows this. After speaking of 
Saturn and Rhea, the first beings of the earth, he makes one 
of their sons, Neptune, say, 

" Three brother Deities from Saturn came, 
And ancient Rhea, earth's immortal dame. 
Assigned by lot — our triple rule we know." 

These three were Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto ; the great 
gods of the ancient heathen, though called by different 
names. The rest were lesser gods. 

The Persians had also their threefold distribution of the 
Deity ; assigning to Oromasdes, Mithras, and Aramanes 
different works ; calling Mithras the Mediator or middle. 
The Hindoos have fheir first great father, Brahm ; an abso- 
lute unity beyond the grasp of human understanding. As 
the creator, he is called Brahma ; as the preserver, Vishnu ; 
and as the renovator, Siva ; these three relations of the di- 
vine being constitute the trinity, Timourti, of the Hindoos. 
The Tartars worshipped a deity under three several names. 
The Buddhists, in China, have also a triplicating father. 
The Goths had their Odin, Vile and Ve, sons of Bura, the 



DOCTRINAL TRUTHS IN TRADITION. 173 

offspring of the mysterious Con — that is, born of the Ark. 
The Chaldeans said, " In the whole world shineth forth a 
Triad or Trinity, the head whereof is Monod or Unity." 
The Orphic system had its Phanus, Uranus, and Chronus. 
Pythagoras taught " The first one or unity is above all essen- 
ces ; the second is ideas, and intelligible ; the third is the 
soul of the world, and partakes of the first two." 

The ancient philosophers spoke of the three operations of 
the great Deity in such a way, that in after times, many of 
the early Christians were misled to think their systems dif- 
fered but little from the Bible. 

The ~\Yord of God, the Creator. — The Bible tells us, " In the 
beginning was the word, and the word was God ;" " all 
things were made by him." 1 The heathen obtained some 
knowledge of this. In India, Vach or speech, is the active 
power of Brahma. In Egypt, while Amanis was the hidden 
god, Phtha was the god by whom he produced the world, — 
was the manifested god. In Persia, Ormazd, the good, 
created the world by Honovu, the word. 

God manifest in the flesh. — The Bible adds, "The word 
was made flesh." 2 This " great mystery," " Emmanuel," 3 
" God manifest in the flesh," 4 has been a part of all reli- 
gions : heathen as well as Christian. All the gods of the 
heathen were once men, or had at times assumed the hu- 
man form. When the Apostle Paul, while traveling with 
Barnabas, had cured an impotent man, the people of Lyca- 
onia cried out, " The gods are come down to us in the like- 
ness of men," calling one Jupiter, and the other Mercurius, 
they wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 5 The transforma- 
tions or incarnation of Vishnu, the second person of the 
Hindoo trinity, form the principal subject of their sacred 
books. 

Not only have the early appearances of the Creator re- 

1 John i. 1, 3, 14. 2 John i. 14. 3 Matt. i. 23. 

4 1 Tim iii. 16. 5 Acts xiv. 12. 



174 FIRST THINGS. 

tained a place in the heathen systems of mythology, but the 
promise of a great Deliverer to come was also preserved in 
some form throughout the world ; gaining strength with 
time, until Jesus, " the desire of all nations." came. Thus, 
while Simeon, and Anna, and other pious Jews were looking 
for him, we see, from the East, wise men, having seen his 
star, come to worship him ; ' and from the West, we hear the 
heathen poet Virgil, while trying to flatter the emperor Au- 
gustus that he was the person referred to in the Cuingen 
verses, saying, 

" The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes, 
Renews its finished course. Saturnian times 
Roll round again." 

" A golden progeny from heaven descends. 
The jarring nations he in peace shall bind, 
And with paternal virtues rule mankind." 

The immortality of the soul. — Every man feels that he has 
a living soul ; and he knows in his conscience that there is 
a coming judgment. Some of the memorable warnings of 
Him, who taught in love, and who came to save, are : " Fear 
Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into 
Hell ; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him." 2 " For the hour is 
coming, in which all that are in the grave shall hear His 
voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto 
the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto 
the resurrection of damnation." 3 

A belief in the immortality of the soul, and of a state 
of future rewards and punishments, has come down through 
all ages, and through all religions. Homer, in his Iliad, 
makes his hero, Achilles, say, 

" 'Tis true, 'tis certain, man though dead retains 
Part of himself, — the immortal mind remains." 

Apolonius, one of the philosophers, declared : " As to the 

1 Matt. ii. 2. 2 Luke xii. 5. 3 John v. 28. 



DOCTRINAL TRUTHS IN TRADITION. 175 

opinion that good men should be rewarded after death, 
he could not reach either the author or original of it." 
Cicero says, " We conclude, from the consent of all mankind, 
that the soul is immortal." Seneca says, " The consent of 
all mankind, in their hopes and fears of a future state, is of 
no small moment to us." All legislators and philosophers, 
in every age aud land, have made it a part of their system, 
and the founders of every form of religious worship have 
done the same. Such rare exceptions as the Sadducees of 
old and the few scattered infidels, who are generally looked 
upon with abhorrence, serving to confirm the rule. 

The translation of Enoch, shortly after the death of Adam, 
was not forgotten. Accounts of it appear, in some form or 
other, in almost every system of religion adopted by the 
heathen. 

The doctrine of the transmigration of souls, which is con- 
nected with a belief in immortality, is still held by a large 
portion of the earth's population. The indistinct knowledge 
which the heathen retained in their traditions, of the crea- 
tion, of the deluge, and of the new world, gave them a notion 
of a succession of worlds ; and led to the belief that Noah 
and his three sons were a re-appearance of Adam and his 
three sons, Cain, Abel and Seth ; these being the only ones 
mentioned. 

The belief that the spirits of the departed have some 
ethereal form after death, and that they sometimes manifest 
themselves to the eyes of men, has prevailed, in all time, 
throughout all nations. This is very remarkable, consider- 
ing that the appearances of Samuel to Saul, and of Moses 
and Elias to the apostles at the transfiguration, are the only 
well authenticated cases upon which to ground a belief in 
ghosts. The learned Dr. Johnson, speaking of the univer- 
sality of the belief in ghosts, said, that after a careful inves- 
tigation he had never been able to find an authentic case of 
a ghost having been seen. The fact, that such a belief has 



176 FIRST THINGS. 

always been universal, shows an involuntary consent of all 
mankind to the truth, that the soul is immortal. 

Sacrifices. — We have already noticed that in the first act 
of worship, after the Fall, God accepted the offering of a lamb 
in sacrifice, and also that sacrifices have had a place in every 
religion since that time. Let us now examine the heathen 
accounts concerning the origin of the sacrifices they offered. 
Plato, the philosopher, says, " At first no animals were of- 
fered, but only the fruits of the earth and trees." Such may 
have been the thank-offerings of man before he sinned ; such 
were the sacrifices offered by self-righteous Cain. His des- 
cendants and followers doubtlessly imitated him, but after 
the flood bloody sacrifices soon became general. 

That sacrifices were a divine appointment is one of the 
most universal traditions prevalent among men. Mr. Faber, 
after a thorough examination of the subject, affirms, that 
" Throughout the whole world he finds a notion prevalent 
that the gods could only be appeased by bloody sacrifices ; 
and its universality proves that all nations have borrowed it 
from the same common source. There is no heathen people 
which can specify a time when it was without sacrifice. All 
have equally had it, from a time which cannot be reached 
"by their genuine records." One Egyptian tradition makes 
Moth or Taut, supposed to be Adam, the inventor of sacri- 
fices. Another says, Osiris, supposed to be Noah, is the god 
who first instructed men in them. The Italians were said 
to have been taught by Janus, the first father. His double 
face, looking forward and backward, is supposed to refer to 
Noah, " the child of the old world and the orphan of the 
new," as knowing the past and the future. According to 
the Babylonians, Zizuthus, on quitting the ark, built an 
altar and sacrificed to the gods. The same was said of 
the Grecian Deucalion. The same of the British Hu, who 
sailed over the flood with seven companions, and was em- 
phatically called the sacrificer. The Chinese Fohi raised 



DOCTRINAL TRUTHS IN TRADITION. 177 

seven kinds of animals for sacrifices to the Great Spirit. 
All these point to Adam or Noah, though called by various 
names. 

Caesar, the infidel of Borne, says, that the Druids of Gaul 
held, that unless the life of man was given for the forfeited 
life of man, the Deity of the immortal gods could not be ap- 
peased. The Athenians and Massilians, in their sacrifice 
of a man for the welfare of the state, show that they had an 
idea of a human redeemer. They loaded him with curses 
and prayed that the wrath of the gods might fall upon his 
devoted head, and thus be diverted from the rest of the citi- 
zens. They solemnly called upon him to be their ransom 
and their redemption, life for life, and body for body. After 
this ceremony they cast him into the sea as an offering to 
Neptune. 

In the Indian mythology, we learn that Menu, their great 
father, had three sons, one of whom was slain in the act of 
performing sacrifice. The slaughtered brother was conse- 
crated as a god and worshipped by the Thessalonians with 
bloody hands. The death of Abel was, doubtless, the origin 
of this tradition. 

Sanchoniathon, the ancient historian of Phoenicia, speaks 
of the sacrifice by the god Chronus (the same as El or Ilus) 
of his son to his father Ouranus, and that the example was 
followed in the nation by the establishment of an expia- 
tory sacrifice, which was considered as peculiarly mystical, 
having reference to things yet to come. The learned my- 
cologist, Mr. Bryant, after giving a full account of this, 
concludes, " According to this, El, the supreme deity, whose 
associates were the Elohim, was in process of time to have a 
son, well beloved, his only begotten. He was to be offered 
up as a sacrifice to the father, by way of satisfaction and 
redemption, to atone for their sins and avert the just ven- 
geance of God." Mr. Bryant leaves it to his readers to say 
whether this does not refer to an early tradition of Christ. 
12 



178 FIEST THINGS. 

It is a lamentable fact that all these relics of original 
truth, which were retained by the heathen in their mytho- 
logy, were mixed up with fabulous traditions and gross super- 
stition, and with an idolatrous and cruel worship which 
constantly grew more and more vile, licentious and corrupt. 
The seed of the Serpent has ever perverted the truth ; doing 
so even in the visible Church of Christ. Peter speaks of 
certain persons as wresting some things in the epistles of 
Paul and " also the other scriptures to their own destruc- 
tion." * The Pharisees, the most professedly religious among 
the Jews, the then visible Church of G-od, put Jesus, who 
was "The Truth" itself, to death. Though they sat in 
Moses' seat, Jesus speaks of them as "children of the 
Devil." 2 Since that time all history shows that there has 
been a succession of his children, not only among the hea- 
then, but also in high places, loudly proclaiming that they 
are " The Church," while they are " holding the truth in 
unrighteousness," and covering up with their traditions the 
pure Word of God, and are also ever zealous, like their 
father, to destroy them who preach, or who live, Christ. 

1 2 Pet. iii. 16. 2 John viii. 44. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE ANCIENT ORACLES — THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS. 

AS man ever since the Fall has shown anxiety in regard 
to the life to come ; so also, in all ages and places, 
we find him troubled with doubts and fears as to his destiny 
in this life ; and seeking to pry into futurity by means of 
some mysterious agency. We find seers and soothsayers, 
wizards and witches, astrologers and fortune-tellers, have 
always abounded. Whence is this? Among other things 
the ancient heathen were in the habit of consulting public 
oracles. How did these originate? Bishop Meade says, 
" We believe there is nothing very general in the world 
which does not point to something which existed among 
God's people, either before or after the flood." The ear- 
liest use of the word oracle in Scripture was in reference to 
the covering of the ark or chest in which the law of Moses 
was shut up, and from above which God manifested his will, 
and delivered responses to Moses. Dreams and visions, such 
as God sent to the patriarchs ; and the interpretation of 
dreams, such as Joseph and Daniel were inspired to give to 
Pharaoh, Darius, and Nebuchadnezzar ; were also oracles, 
or answers from God. The answers to the high priest by 
means of certain signs and appearances on the Urim and 
Thummim. which Moses had put in the breastplate, 1 were the 
oracles of God among the Jews. This was consulted on all 
important occasions. The Scriptures are called the " lively," 
or living, " oracles " 2 of God, in opposition to the false or 
dead oracles of the heathen. According to these oracles of 

1 Lev. viii. 8 ; Ex. xxviii. 30 ; Num. xxvii. 21. 2 Acts vii. 38 ; Rom. iii. 2. 

(119) 



180 FIRST THINGS. 

God, Christians are now directed to speak ; ' and forsaking 
all other oracles, they are, for their present and future wel- 
fare, to consult these only. 2 Thanks be to God ! they are 
always living ; always open for consultation. 

The knowledge that God has, from the beginning, held 
constant communications with His people, has been preserved 
in some form by all nations. All men feel the want of 
such a counselor. This want of man, Satan, the god of this 
world, has, in many ways, endeavored to supply. The an- 
cient heathen oracles were one of these ways ; and some of 
them became very celebrated. That of Jupiter Dodona in 
Epirus ; of Apollo at Delphi, in Phocis, near Mount Par- 
nassus ; and the temple of Jupiter Amnion in the deserts of 
Libya, were the principal ones. Homer mentions the two 
former only. In process of time they became so multiplied 
that there were not less than twenty-five oracles in the small 
province of Bceotia. These were consulted not only on im- 
portant public questions, but likewise on the affairs of pri- 
vate life. According to the heathen tradition, Mount Par- 
nassus was once tenanted by a mighty serpent, which had 
the power of speech and delivered oracular responses from 
a sacred cave. This Delphic serpent, which was called 
Python, was, according to the tradition, slain by Apollo. 
From this fabulous monster the name Pythius was communi- 
cated to the god, and Pythia, or Pythoness, to the priest- 
ess, who, after receiving the vapor of inspiration through the 
cleft of a rock, delivered the responses. 

The oracular temples were generally located in deep 
forests or steep, craggy places. The tripod or chair, on 
which the priest or priestess was seated, was sometimes over 
the mouth of a cavern ; the vapor issuing from it was said 
to have an inspiring or infuriating effect on those who were 
upon it. The oracles were consulted by all classes ; even 
by philosophers and kings. Rich presents were made to 

1 1 Pet. iv. 11. 2 Deut. xviii. 19, 12. 



THE ANCIENT ORACLES. 181 

propitiate them. Bribes were sometimes used to procure 
favorable answers. Answers were also sometimes specially 
obtained for the purpose of stimulating credulous soldiers or 
people, when certain objects were to be gained. 

Eusebius says that there were not less than six hundred 
authors among the heathen themselves who wrote against 
the reality of the oracles. In the Christian Church learned 
men, in all ages, have taken different views of them. Some 
believing them to be nothing but human ingenuity and fraud, 
while others contended that they were inspired by the father 
of lies. 

That they did deliver some answers as to future events, 
of a most remarkable character, cannot be denied. Among 
the many responses given it would be strange, however, if 
this did not sometimes happen. The responses were always 
in some enigmatical or ambiguous form ; so shaped, that the 
credit of the oracle might be sustained, whatever might be 
the event. Oftentimes the answer was to be inferred, not 
from anything said, but from the flight of birds, or some ap- 
pearance in the sky, or some unnatural sound ; so that all 
was uncertainty. However, there must have been something 
very remarkable in their character and conduct, to enable 
them to maintain their reputation and influence for a thou- 
sand successive years. We are reminded of Jacob's prevail- 
ing prayer, " I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me," ' 
by such instances as the following : while supplicating Apollo 
at Delphi, during the war with Xerxes, the Athenian mes- 
sengers said, " We will never depart from thy sanctuary 
without a favorable answer, but will remain here until we 
die." The responses of the oracles certainly had the effect 
of stimulating to the most daring deeds of defensive war 
that heathen history has ever furnished. 

Many of their responses are recorded by the ancient 
heathen historians. The famous answers to Croesus, king 

1 Gen. xxxii. 26. 



182 FIRST THINGS. 

of Lydia, when about to engage in a war with Persia, are 
worthy of notice. Croesus, according to Herodotus, being 
doubtful of the oracle, determined first to try its superhu- 
man knowledge ; and, therefore, sent a messenger, who, at 
the end of a hundred days, was to enquire what the occupa- 
tion of the king at that time would be. The reply of the 
god was ; " That he smelt the odor of a lamb boiled with a 
tortoise, while brass was at once above and beneath it ;" and 
such, it was said, was actually the occupation of Croesus at 
the time. Croesus then sent to inquire of the Oracle wheth- 
er he would be victorious in the proposed war ; to which 
this ambiguous answer was returned ; " That he would over- 
throw a great empire." Croesus, wishing to be yet more 
sure, sent again ; and inquired whether his power would 
ever be diminished. The Oracle in reply advised the mon- 
arch to consult his safety by flight, " Whenever a mule should 
reign over the Medes." Croesus understood this as insuring 
him success ; as a mule could not be king. But it turned 
out, that the mule was Cyrus, the Medo-Persian, who united 
the two kingdoms of Medea and Persia, and conquered 
Croesus. Thus also Croesus overthrew a great empire ; 
but that empire was his own. In any event, with both 
answers the credit of the oracle was secure. 

In examining the question, whether the ancient Oracles 
received superhuman assistance and inspiration from the 
great enemy of mankind and father of lies, Bishop Meade 
refers to such facts as the temptation of our first parents by 
Satan in the form of a serpent ; of his putting it into the 
heart of Judas to betray our Lord, and into the heart of 
Ananias to lie unto the Holy Ghost. He then adds, " We 
need not fear to admit that this wise and artful being might 
be permitted by God to create some mischief among men by 
means of Oracles, and the superhuman answers made through 
them." That the devil has exerted great power through the 
priests of false religions, we may infer from the facts record- 



THE ANCIENT OKACLES. 183 

ed in Scripture concerning the rod of Moses. When it was 
turned into a serpent, the magicians of Egypt did the same. 
Simon, the sorcerer, who bewitched the people of Samaria 
with his sorceries, may have been enabled by Satan to do 
some wonderful things. " We read," says Mr. Faber, " in the 
Acts of the Apostles, of a young female who was possessed 
of a spirit of divination, according to our version, but with 
a spirit of Python, according to the original Greek. This 
spirit enabled her to utter certain oracular responses, which 
brought her masters much gain. When she beheld Paul and 
his companions, she cried, saying ' These men are the ser- 
vants of the Most High God, which shew unto us the way of 
salvation. Paul being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, 
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ come out of her. 
And he came out the same hour.' * Now, according to the 
plain import of this narrative, the young female was pos- 
sessed by an evil spirit, which compelled her to utter 
responses of an oracular nature. The spirit was an intelli- 
gent and living agent. And he is denominated a spirit of 
Python, which is the precise name of the Delphic serpent which 
delivered Oracles from a sacred cave in Mount Parnassus. 
Putting these matters together," says Mr. Faber, " we certainly 
seem to collect that there was something more than mere 
juggling imposture in the responses of the ancient oracles." 
Bishop Meade adds : " From a careful examination of many 
of the most judicious, as well as learned writers, ancient and 
modern, I find such to have been their prevailing impres- 
sions, though there be some diversity of sentiment among 
them." 

Though great difference of opinion prevailed among the 
ancients in regard to the reliability of the Oracles, still they 
continued to be held in high repute until the Christian era. 
They then rapidly declined ; so that even that at Delphi 
was closed. The most learned among the heathen were at 

1 Acts xv i. 6. 



184 FIRST THINGS. 

a loss to account for this closing of their ancient Oracles. One 
of them, Porphyry, says, "Since Jesus began to be worshipped, 
no man has received any public help or benefit from the gods." 

THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS. 

A set of extraordinary books, under the name of The Ora- 
cles of the Gwncen Sibyl, were offered for sale, at an early 
period of Rome, to King Tarquinius Superbus at an immense 
price. It is said that there were originally nine books offered 
by the Sibyl : that on each refusal on the part of the king- 
to purchase them, one of them was burnt, until six of them 
were thus destroyed ; and then Tarquinius purchased the 
remaining three for the price originally demanded for the 
nine. These books were held in such high veneration that 
they were kept in a stone chest under ground in the temple 
of Jupiter Capitolinus, and were committed to the care of 
two chosen officers, who consulted the books only at the 
special command of the senate : and this not to learn future 
events, but what worship was required by the gods when 
they manifested their wrath by national calamities or prodi- 
gies. The officers in charge of the books were enjoined to 
keep their contents from the public under heavy penalties. 
Eighty-two years before the birth of Christ, the temple in 
which they were contained was burned, and they were con- 
sumed. The Roman senate thought it of so much importance 
to repair the loss, that they sent persons into various coun- 
tries to collect the fragments of the books, which were sup- 
posed to be in existence, and the most learned men of Rome 
were employed to select from the returns what they judged 
to be most authentic. 

The Sibylline prophecies were originally of Teukrian or 
early Trojan descent. They were in full circulation in the 
reign of Croesus ; and the promises of future empire which 
they made to iEneas escaping from the flames of Troy into 
Italy, were remarkably realized by Rome. 



THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS. 185 

Bishop Horseley, in his treatise " On the Prophecies of the 
Messiah Dispersed Among the Heathen," speaks of the cele- 
brated Sibylline books, as containing some of those ancient 
traditions and prophecies of a great Deliverer who was to 
come, and which were floating through the world during the 
patriarchal age, not merely in the family of Abraham, but in 
other lines. There was certainly a great resemblance be- 
tween some things contained in these books as to the great 
Deliverer, and those in the Scriptures as to the Messiah. 
We have already noticed Virgil's quotation from them on 
this subject. Julius Csesar, through his friends, wished to 
have it believed that he was the person alluded to in the 
Sibylline books, as a means of obtaining the kingly govern- 
ment of Rome ; but Cicero, who had access to these docu- 
ments, and who was opposed to Cassar's elevation, denied 
that they were prophecies, alleging that they were not fren- 
zied enough in their style to be the work of prophets ; but 
he bears testimony to their excellence by saying, " Let us 
then adhere to the prudent practice of our ancestors ; let us 
keep the Sibyl in religious privacy. These writings," he said, 
" are indeed rather calculated to extinguish than to propagate 
superstition." Bishop Horseley says, that " these prophecies, 
wherever they might be found, could be of no other than a 
divine original." 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES — FREEMASONS. 

THERE is something connected with what is considered 
mysterious or supernatural which immediately attracts 
attention. This is especially the case, if in the imagination 
the mystery is connected with the spiritual world. When 
we consider our relations to the unseen, to God, to angels, 
and to demons, it is not strange that this feeling everywhere 
prevails, and that it has done so ever since the Fall. The 
moment we leave revelation everything becomes a mystery. 

All the revelations made to us in the word of God ; of 
Himself 1 — of His incarnation 2 — of the plan of salvation 3 — 
of the resurrection, 4 etc., are spoken of in the Scriptures as 
revealed " mysteries." Man never could have discovered 
them ; never could have imagined them. And even when he 
hears of them, the natural man, unless born again of the 
Holy Ghost, 5 cannot understand them. Ministers are called 
" stewards of the mysteries of God." 6 Our Lord told his 
disciples, " It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the 
kingdom of heaven, but to them not given." 7 

It is not surprising, therefore, that Satan has in all ages 
taken advantage of man's natural ignorance of the unseen 
world, and of his thirst for the mysterious : and among the 
many means of leading his followers astray, has used pre- 
tended religious mysteries and oracles, table-movings, spirit- 
rappings, etc. 

1 1 Cor. ii. 1 ; Col. ii. 2. " 1 Tim. iii. ] 6. 

3 Eph. vi. 19 ; Col. i. 26, 2T. " 1 Cor. xv. 51. 

s 1 Cor. ii. 10, 14: John iii. 5. 8 1 Cor. iv. 1. 7 Matt. xiii. 11. 

(186) 



THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 187 

Among the ancients in different parts of the world there 
were secret celebrations, known as the Greater and the Les- 
ser mysteries. All might be admitted into the latter ; com- 
paratively few into the former. The greater mysteries were 
those of the Cabiri, the Eleusinian, the Bacchic, the Samo- 
thracian, and the Mithraic. They were performed, with 
many religious ceremonies, in dark caves and grottos, or in 
the lower apartments of great temples, always with the light 
excluded so as to require lamps. The first thing done in the 
initiation of new members was to administer an oath ; then 
whatever could be effected by alternate darkness and light, 
sweet sounds and discordant ones, lovely and dismal scenes, 
hymns and songs, gods and goddesses passing in review be- 
fore the eyes — things, as one said, " most horrible and most 
ravishingly pleasant" — was adopted to frighten and delight. 
The existence of God and the gods, of a future state, and 
some facts in creation and in the early history of man, are 
said to have been some of the subjects represented in these 
mysteries. Plato says, " It was the end and drift of initia- 
tion to restore the soul to that state from which it fell." In 
time there was a general desire to be initiated ; and a pre- 
mium was charged for becoming so. Even children were 
initiated. In their first and purest state, the ancient myste- 
ries are said to have been designed to inculcate a holy and 
virtuous life, in order to a happy immortality. As is apt to 
be the case with secret societies, all of the mysteries, by rea- 
son of their secresy, became abominably corrupt : so much 
so, that, after being ridiculed on the public stage, they were 
at length required to be suppressed by public authority. 

St. Augustine, speaking of the mysteries, says, " There 
were many truths which it was inconvenient to the State to 
be generally known ; and many things, though false, it was 
expedient the people should generally believe ; therefore the 
Greeks shut up their mysteries in the silence of their sacred 
enclosures." Herodotus, in his history, speaks very freely 



188 FIRST THINGS. 

at times of the follies of the Grecian stories and worship. 
Of some religious rites, however, he dares not give the ex- 
planation. Speaking of the god Pan, he says, " Why they 
represent him in such a way I had rather not mention." 
Speaking of the blows the priests in Egypt inflicted on them- 
selves at the great festival of Bubastis, he says, " But for 
whom they thus beat themselves, it were impious for me to 
divulge." The old Orphic poet wrote, 

•' To these alone I speak, whom nameless rites 
Have rendered meet to listen. Close the doors 
And carefully exclude each wretch profane, 
Lest impious curiosity pollute 
Our sacred orgies." 

In the Egyptian mysteries of Osiris, an ark, carried about 
by the priests, was a leading symbol in the ceremonies. 
The Phoenicians, in celebrating the mysteries of Cabiri, also 
used a consecrated ark. A sacred ark was likewise used in 
the mysteries of Bacchus ; and the same symbol appeared in 
the mysteries of other nations. Learned writers on this sub- 
ject consider the mysteries of the Cabiri as instituted in 
honor of Noah and his three sons ; the latter being sometimes 
called Dioscori or Cabiri : and that all the mysteries em- 
braced some memorials of the Deluge, and of the events im- 
mediately succeeding it. It may be that the Ark of the 
Covenant, carried by the Israelites into Canaan, may also 
have led to the adoption of that symbol among the religious 
rites of some of the heathen. 

Another prominent symbol, used in the celebration of the 
mysteries, and carried about in the baris or ark, was the 
"" mystic egg" In the heathen writings, and in their hiero- 
glyphics, the mystic egg appears in connection with the ark 
and the deluge. It is said to have floated on the ocean dur- 
ing the deluge, and that out of it was born a new world. It 
is sometimes the world itself, and sometimes the great pro- 
lific father or mother of all things. 



THE FREEMASONS. 189 

One cannot help being struck with the many points of re- 
semblance between the ancient mysteries and a secret society 
still existing among us, the Freemasons : a society of very 
ancient date, which some of its advocates pretend to trace 
up to the great master-builder Solomon ; and some to a still 
higher date, connecting it with the builders of Babel. All 
the most remarkable buildings of Greece, Egypt, and Asia 
Minor, have been ascribed to the Cabirian or Cyclopean 
architects ; and the present Freemasons claim it as their 
privilege to preside over the commencement of great build- 
ings. The learned Mr. Faber says, " This society is proba- 
bly a fragment of those orgies which have prevailed all the 
world over, and have come to us through the Knights Tem- 
plar.' 7 One of the main objects of this society is mutual 
support and assistance among its members : their secret 
signs enabling them to recognize one another. All the ob- 
jects of true charity, however, can be accomplished without 
the dangers and evils generally connected with secret asso- 
ciations. The Gospel encourages no secret organizations. 
Our Lord says, "Every one that doeth evil hateth the light." ' 
He requires of his followers an open profession : and enjoins 
upon his disciples to " love one another," 2 and to " do good 
unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household 
of faith." 3 

1 John iii. 20. 2 John xiii. 34. 3 Gal. vi. 10. 



CHAPTER XL. 

FIEST HEATHEN POETS — HOMEE — HESIOD. 

SEVERAL centuries after the writings of Moses, and of 
the book of Job, itself a poem of the highest order, had 
appeared, the literature of Greece commenced with the writ- 
ings of her early poets. These first heathen poets introduced 
in their allegories, mixed with much fable, the events recorded 
by Moses ; accounts of the creation of the world, of the 
first God or gods, and the early history of man before and 
after the deluge. Some of them were therefore called di- 
vine poets. The term votes, or prophets, was applied to 
them. The most celebrated were Musceus, Orpheus, Linus, 
Amphion and Hermes. They are supposed to have lived 
from 1,400 to 1,250 years before Christ. 

Orpheus, or the author of the Orphic verses, whoever he 
was, the authorship being doubtful, had more scriptural 
views than the others. These views of truth became more 
and more obscured by the fictions of the later poets. The 
same darkening of the truth is noticeable in the writings of 
the successive celebrated philosophers of Greece, of Persia, 
and of China. Plato, one of these philosophers, acknow- 
ledges, that " the nearer the originals the truer ; " and, " the 
higher we go up to the ages nearest creation, the more visi- 
ble the traces of truth." " These things, however," he says, 
" were wrapt up in the fables of the poets ; that he could 
only try to make the best use of them until some one came 
to explain them." Speaking of the traditions of the eastern 
countries, Plato said, " Their knowledge of the Deity was 
derived from the gods ; " " the ancients, who lived nearer to 

(190) 



FIRST HEATHEN POETS. 191 

the gods than we, have transmitted it unto us." He speaks 
of Adam's state of innocence under the fable of Saturn's 
golden age, but adds that " we want a fit interpreter of the 
fable." 

The tribes, which had settled in Greece, were in compar- 
ative barbarism and ignorance, when their early poets, by 
their verses and instructions, contributed to their elevation. 
This is probably referred to when these poets are spoken 
of as taming wild beasts by their harps and lyres, and their 
verses. 

Several centuries after these early poets had passed away, 
there appeared in Greece, at about the same time, the cele- 
brated poets Homer and Hesiod : who, according to Herod- 
otus, lived not more than four hundred years before his day. 
This, at the furthest, reaches back to 850 years before 
Christ ; which would be nearly two centuries after Solomon 
had spoken " three thousand proverbs : and had written a 
thousand and five songs ; and, because of his wisdom, his 
fame was in all nations round about." ] We might well 
wonder, that clearer views of the God of Solomon did not 
spread at the same time, did we not know the tendency of 
man, as instanced for a time by Solomon himself, to idolatry. 
The writings of Homer, and of Hesiod, are the first heathen 
writings in the world which have come down to us in perfect 
form ; the earlier ones coming in fragments only. 

Homer was called the " strolling bard," because of his 
travels through so many countries. His Iliad gives an ac- 
count of the siege of Troy, and his Odyssey, an account of 
the wanderings of Ulysses from Troy to Ithaca. These first 
heathen poems excel all other poems which have since ap- 
peared in heathen literature ; and for nearly three thousand 
years have excited the admiration of all learned men. 

Combining the information they gathered by traveling in 
the neighboring countries with the ideas derived from their 

1 1 King's iv. 31, 82. 



102 FIRST THINGS. 

earlier poets, Homer and Hesiod classified the gods ; adding 
many things unknown before : and thus formed the system 
of the great pagan mythology of the ancient Greeks and 
Romans. It is thought that Homer must have read all the 
books of Moses, and borrowed many passages from them. 
The principal facts recorded by Moses reappear in the 
works of Hesiod and Homer in a corrupted form. 

Speaking of Homer, Mr. Pope, his translator, says, 
" Though he has some very low thoughts, yet he has more 
noble and excellent ones than any other writer : his style 
bears a greater resemblance to the sacred writers than any 
others, and his writings a remarkable parity with Scrip- 
ture." A general spirit of piety pervades his works ; we 
find in them much of divine truth, though perverted. There 
is a constant acknowledgment of the gods ; and man's de- 
pendance upon them is shown by the continued offering of 
prayers and sacrifices ; particularly before engaging in bat- 
tle, or entering on any great enterprise. The principle 
which pervades the poem is, 

" Those who revere the gods, the gods will bless." 

He speaks of man's dependence on some superior power thus, 

" If thou hast strength, 'twas Heaven that strength bestowed, 
For know, vain man, that valor is from God : 
'Tis man's to fight, but Heaven to give success." 

Homer's accounts of God and of the gods, their origin and 
their character, are confused and contradictory. At times 
he ascribes attributes to Jupiter which would make him 
equal to the eternal and self-existent God as set forth by 
Moses : speaking of him, as the 

" Supreme of gods, unbounded and alone ; '' 
" Ever just and true : " 

and making him say, 

" If I but stretch this hand, 
I hexve the gods, the ocean and the hind." 



HOMEE — HESIOD. 193 

" And what I speak is Fate." 
" And Fate our word obeys." 

While at other times, he speaks of Jupiter as having an 
earthly origin and birth ; and also, the basest of human pas- 
sions. Such contradictions constantly occur, likewise, in all 
the heathen mythologists and philosophers ; throwing their 
systems of theology into confusion. The heathen could 
not comprehend an eternal God ; nor imagine a pure One. 
Homer wrote also a number of hymns to the gods. After 
his death, temples were built and sacrifices offered to him. 

Hesiod gives us the first regular heathen history of crea- 
tion, of the gods, and of the hero-gods : the cosmogony, 
theogony and heroology, which were according to the pre- 
vailing traditions of his day, or according to his own fancy. 
His account of the gods was afterwards denounced by Plato, 
Socrates and others, as derogatory to the gods and injuri- 
ous to men. Hesiod professed to write under the inspiration 
of the Muses. His accounts of creation and of the early 
facts in the world's history are evidently founded on the 
Mosaic history. Passing by, and leaving out, God, the 
Creator, Hesiod makes Chaos, first ; and next, the earth ; 
and then by means of Love, night appears ; and day or light 
from darkness ; then the heavenly bodies are born from the 
earth ; and, last of all, from Coelus and Terra, the heaven 
and the earth, Saturn, the first of the gods, is born. Many 
facts in the early history of mankind are also plainly re- 
ferred to by him. In his description of the different ages 
he speaks of man's first estate of purity and happiness ; then, 
of a degenerate race " by angry Jove engulfed ; " and then 
of a third, a race of " many-languaged men." Hesiod speaks 
of the share woman had in bringing evils on the human 
race, thus : at the instigation of Jupiter, Vulcan 

" Moulded from the yielding clay 
A bashful virgin's imago ; 

13 



194 FIRST THINGS. 

And lo ! from her descend the tender sex 

Of woman : a pernicious kind ; 

A bane to men ; 

111 helpmates of intolerable toils." * 

We do not know what Hesiod's experience was with the 
fair sex ; or whether he was an old bachelor ; but, at all 
events, he was a heathen ; for he goes on to say, 

" The name Pandora to the maid was given ; 
For all the gods conferred a gifted grace 
To crown this mischief of the mortal race." 

Then comes the account of the introduction of evil into the 
world through woman ; who, though forbidden to do it, 
through curiosity, open a casket containing all the ills of life. 

" The woman's hands an ample casket bear, 
She lifts the lid, she scatters ills in air; 
Hope sole remained within, nor took her flight, 
Beneath the casket's verge concealed from sight." 

A reference, doubtless, to the promised seed of the woman, 
the Messiah, the Hope of the world. 

* Elton's translation. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

FIRST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS — THALES — PYTHAGORAS — SO- 
CRATES — PLATO — ARISTOTLE — ZOROASTER — LAOU-TSE — 
CONFUCIUS. 

GOD'S history of creation, by the hand of Moses, and the 
philosophical speculations of Job and his friends, had 
been nearly a thousand years in the world ; and during all 
that time God had been confirming' his written word by 
miracles, and by preserving a chosen people, whose religious 
rites kept continually commemorating the facts spoken of in 
that word ; when a succession of men appeared in Greece 
and other countries, who, to this day, are celebrated as phil- 
osophers. Some of these philosophers were evidently, as 
their name implies, " lovers of wisdom." To acquire know- 
ledge, they traveled through all the great civilized nations 
then existing ; examining their religions, their traditions, 
historical monuments, &c. They obtained thus some ideas 
of the true God. Their codes of morals, their speculations 
in regard to the immortality of the soul, and their religious 
views, were greatly in advance of even the refined idolatry 
of the Greeks. The surrounding darkness making their light 
appear the more brilliant. 

When we consider, that traditions of the leading events 
of the first ages of the world existed among all nations, and 
that references to some of these were preserved in" their re- 
ligious rites ; and also, that for so long a period before their 
day the clear Word of God had been written, and had been, 
during the lives of some of the later of these philosophers, 
translated into the leading language of the world ; and that 

(198) 



196 FIRST THINGS. 

this word had been continually read or expounded for a 
thousand years in the synagogues of a peculiar nation lo- 
cated in the centre of the then known world ; a nation, 
whose kings, shortly before, were the most powerful on 
earth, and the most celebrated for wisdom ; when we bear 
all this in mind, instead of being surprised at finding gleams 
of truth in the writings of these men, the wonder is, that 
they had not clearer views. We should be surprised at this, 
did we not now constantly see the " wise of this world' 7 sit- 
ting a whole lifetime under the preaching of the gospel, 
without understandiug even its first principles. Truly, 
" faith is the gift of God ;" ' and He alone can " open the 
heart" to " understand the Scriptures !" 2 

The eloquence, sincerity, and peculiar teachings of these 
philosophers drew many disciples to them. Their writings 
have ever since been in the hands of every scholar ; and 
many of them are now daily used in our schools and col- 
leges. And what is still more strange, their dim discoveries 
of truth, mixed as they are with great darkness, are what 
many of the learned men of the world at the present day are 
trying to build their hopes for eternity upon. Many are 
preferring the misty speculations, and the cold morality of 
heathen philosophers groping for the truth, to the clear 
teachings of the " light of the world," the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Among the first of these philosophers appears Tholes; 
w T ho died about five hundred and forty-eight years before 
the Christian era, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. Four 
hundred years before this, the fame of the wisdom of Solo- 
mon was in all nations round about f and he had drawn 
people from the utmost parts of the earth to hear him. 4 
Thirty years before the death of Thales, B. C. 580, Nebu- 
chadnezzar issued his proclamation " unto all people, nations, 
and languages that dwell in the earth," stating what 

1 Eph. ii. 8. 3 1 Kings iv. 31. 

2 Acta xvi. 14 ; Lube xxiv. 45. * Luke xi. 31. 



FIRST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS. 197 

God had wrought towards him. He had previously de- 
creed, that every people and nation which speak anything 
against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should 
be cut to pieces. 1 Greece being enshrouded in the gross 
darkness of a refined and licentious paganism, Thales went 
abroad to obtain knowledge, and became the great mathe- 
matician, astronomer, and theologian of his day. His main 
doctrine was, that water was the basis of all things ; and 
that God was the mind that formed all things out of it ; that 
God himself was unmade. He also taught that the world 
was full of gods or good angels who were made by God. 
He drew his wisdom from Egypt, where he spent some 
years ; and he advised his disciple, Pythagoras, to travel in 
search of wisdom among the ancient nations. 

Pythagoras spent forty years in gathering all the know- 
ledge he could get from the Egyptians, Jews, Phoenicians, 
and Chaldeans. It was during this search for knowledge, 
that Cyrus, king of Persia, B. C. 536, issued a proclamation 
throughout all his kingdom, saying, " The Lord God of hea- 
ven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and he 
hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem." 2 It 
was also while he was on his travels that Darius " wrote unto 
all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in the earth" 
with a decree, " that in every dominion of my kingdom men 
tremble and fear before the God of Daniel ; for He is the 
living God." 3 And also, another similar decree, confirming 
the decree of Cyrus, to aid the Jews in building the house 
of God at Jerusalem. 4 

It is remarkable, that about the same time these first phil- 
osophers were gaining wisdom from the East, the celebrated 
philosophers of Persia, India, and China, commenced to teach, 
and to give forth those writings, which, though twenty-four 
centuries have passed since their day, are still moulding the 
religion of more than half of the population of the earth. 

1 Danl. iii. 29 ; iv. 1 . 2 Ezra i. 1 . 3 Danl. vi. 25. * Ezra vi. 8. 



198 FIRST THINGS. 

In Persia, Zoroaster commenced changing the religion of 
that country. In India, Buddha began to new-model its 
religion ; and in China appeared the celebrated Laou-tse and 
Confucius. 

Our Saviour told his disciples, " Ye are the light of the 
world." ' This has always been true of the Lord's people 
wherever they have been. Even when in captivity, or scat- 
tered by persecutions, the Word of God goes with them and 
prevails. 2 It was about the time when the Jews were in 
captivity in Babylon ; and when from that place, the capital 
of the great empire of the world, its kings, constrained by 
the wonderful works of the God of Jews, were issuing de- 
crees calling upon all nations to acknowledge the true God ; 
it was at that time that all these philosophers first appeared. 
Each of these great minds, thus partially enlightened, when 
they returned to their own countries, began to be preachers 
and teachers. Each of them drew disciples, founded reli- 
gious sects, and laid the foundations of an influence which 
has existed to the present day. 

Each of the first philosophers of Greece, Persia, and 
China, thus drawing their knowledge of the truth from 
nearer the fountain head, necessarily had clearer views than 
were held by their disciples. We must bear in mind, that 
these founders of great religious sects were only partially 
enlightened ; and that they still remained heathen. Not 
fully comprehending the truth, they could not transmit even 
the little light which they had received to their followers. 
The successive teachers in those sects, by adding fables, and 
their own fancies, continued to make the stream more 
muddy, until, in some cases, the original truth was almost 
entirely lost. 

Without examining in detail all the erroneous speculations 
of these philosophers, in their endeavors to find, or manu- 
facture truth ; let us take a glance at their religious views. 

1 Matt. v. 14. 2 Acts viii. 4. 



PIEST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS. 199 

With all their knowledge, they could not comprehend crea- 
tion. They considered matter eternal, and confounded the 
Creator with the thing created. Pythagoras believed that 
God was the soul of the world, and that the human soul was 
a porti-jn of God. Socrates believed that the mind of man 
was part of the Great Mind. Plato held that the eternal 
God made the world, and that the world, proceeding eter- 
nally from him, was God. Strange to say, these same doc- 
trines are openly taught at the present day by some learned 
heathen in Christian lands. 

The ideas of the true God thus obtained and held by the 
first philosophers of Greece, though very limited, were too 
pure for the people to bear. On his return to Greece, Py- 
thagoras was afraid to proclaim his whole system ; and So- 
crates, though he complied with the religion of the Greeks, 
was condemned to death for rejecting the traditions giving 
such scandalous accounts of the gods. 

We have nothing of Pythagoras now extant : nor is it 
certain that he ever wrote any philosophical composition. 
It is supposed that his knowledge was contained in a select 
number of sentences, which he explained to his disciples. 
There are some Pythagorean fragments, which have come 
to us through his followers, corrupted by their speculations 
and additions. His doctrine was divided into two parts ; 
public and private : being afraid, as we have noticed, to 
proclaim his whole system. He was noted for loving to see 
and hear, rather than to talk. This, together with the want 
of authentic writings, involves every thing pertaining to 
Pythagoras in mystery. While he believed in one uncre- 
ated, supreme, universal God, whom he called Zeus, or Ju- 
piter, he also believed in many inferior deities, such as, the 
sun, moon, stars, heroes, and demons. He was also the great 
advocate of the wide-spread doctrine of the transmigration 
of souls ; declaring that he himself had passed through many 
such changes. He said that he had received the same in- 



200 FIRST THINGS. 

structions from the Druids of Gaul, the Magi of Persia, the 
Brahmins of India, and the priests of Egypt : showing that 
the religious views held in these different countries were all 
derived from one source. Pythagoras died B. C. 496, hav- 
ing outlived Thales fifty years. On account of his talents 
and influence he was held by the ancient Greeks and Ro- 
mans in almost superstitious reverence. 

Next appeared the wise and good Socrates, who sought to 
allure men from vain speculations about the universe and 
the gods to morals and practical religion. The morals of the 
Grecians, like those of the gods they worshipped, were very 
corrupt. His great disciple, Plato, said, " That God alone 
could save the young men of his day from ruin." One might 
suppose that he was speaking of the young men of the present 
time. Socrates, therefore, rejected the gods of the poets, or 
denied that they were guilty of the actions imputed to them. 
He believed in one God, supreme above all others, the Maker 
of the world, seeing and knowing all things. In his " Me- 
morabilia," he says, " As the soul is known by its operations, 
so God is known b}^ his works." He believed, however, also 
in many inferior gods ; and spoke of sacrificing a cock to 
Esculapius, just before his death. Being accused of contempt 
for the household gods, and of corrupting the youth by his 
doctrine, he was condemned to death, and drank hemlock. 
How sad was that death ! how dark ! notwithstanding all his 
wisdom and goodness. How different it was from that of the 
true Christian ! to whom " to die is gain ; " and " to depart is 
to be with Christ." x Instead of saying w T ith Paul, " I have 
kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
of righteousness ; " 2 hear Socrates, when dying, declaring 
to his mourning friends, that he was going he knew not 
whither ; and whether it would be better, or worse with 
him, the gods only could tell. 

Plato was born B. C. 428. His doctrines, though some- 

1 Phil. i. 21, 23. 2 2 Tim. iv. T. 



FIRST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS. 201 

what corrupted, have been better preserved than most others, 
from having been committed to writing. He, also, had some 
doctrines which he did not make public or commit to writ- 
ing ; warned, perhaps, by the fate of Socrates. By travel- 
ing he added to the information which he had gained from 
Socrates. His views were so pure and lofty, that he was 
called the " divine Plato." With apparently clear ideas of 
God, as the Creator, and of His providence, he, at the same 
time, unites with Him, in the government of the world, a 
throng of gods and demons ; the inferior deities being- 
deputies of the Supreme, the " God over all," " who always 
was, and never was made ; " " who made man and all 
things." He said, "The supreme God was hard to be 
found ; and when found, not easy and safe to be declared." 
Plato wrote very forcibly on the immortality of the soul. 
Socrates, who before him had defended that doctrine, had 
said, that the knowledge of there being no punishments here- 
after would be " good news to the wicked." 

Aristotle, another of the celebrated philosophers of Greece, 
was born B. C. 384. He was a pupil of Plato for twenty 
years. Plato called him " The mind of the school." Aris- 
totle was the tutor of Alexander the Great ; chosen by his 
father Philip. He formed a new sect in opposition to the 
Academy — the school of Socrates and Plato, and taught in 
a grove near Athens, walking about while teaching. Like 
his teacher, he also believed in one God ; " the first immov- 
able Mover," as he called him : " the Mind that willed all 
things, and disposed them in the wisest and best manner." 
He acknowledged lesser gods whom he called " the divinity," 
and he divided the heavens into forty-seven spheres, over 
which the gods presided. He says, " It has been delivered 
to us from ancient times that the stars also were deities." 
He refers also to an ancient writer who considered " Love " 
to be the first cause. All other things, he said, " were fabu- 
lous ; and used to satisfy the multitude, and for the utility 



202 FIRST THINGS. 

of life, and to teach men obedience to civil laws." Aristotle 
was the greatest logician of his age ; and his works on this 
subject are still held in high esteem. 

About the same time that Greece was being benefited by 
the instructions of her first philosophers, Zoroaster was re- 
forming the religion of the Medes and Persians. The re- 
ligion of the ancient Persians (Parsees) was the worship of 
fire, symbolical of the Deity, to which we have already al- 
luded. At a later time the ancient worship was changed into 
the worship of the stars (Sabeism), especially of the sun and 
of the morning star. The priests were called Magi. This 
religion yet survives in India among the Parsees, who pro- 
fess to be still in possession of the sacred books of Zoroaster. 
They assert that they do not worship fire or the sun, but 
only use them as symbols of the Fountain of eternal light 
and purity. Zoroaster asserted the existence of a supreme 
Being, all powerful and eternal ; from whom eternally pro- 
ceeded, by his creative Word — Honovu, two principles ; 
Oromasdes, the Creator of good, and Aramanes, the princi- 
ple of darkness. Zoroaster speaks of the conflict of these 
powers, of the triumph of the good ; of a resurrection, and 
of the restoration of all things. He speaks of five successive 
periods of creation, and of man's being formed on the sixth ; 
of man's innocence, and happiness, until tempted by Ahri- 
man, the liar, to eat fruit which he brought ; and that man 
thus became subject to misery and death. In compiling the 
Zendavesta, the sacred book of the ancient Persians, Zoro- 
aster, who flourished about the time of the captivity in Bab- 
ylon, evidently obtained his ideas of creation and of the 
Fall of man from the Jews. 

A recent writer, speaking of the Chinese philosopher, 
Laou-tse, says; Le-eurl, or Laou-tse, "old master," was the 
founder of the Taouists in China. He lived in the sixth 
century before the Christian era, and was cotemporary with, 
though older than Confucius, who once visited him seeking 



FIEST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHEES. 203 

instruction, and who always spoke of him with respect. 
Laou-tse is said to have traveled west of China in search of 
knowledge, and thus is supposed to have come in contact 
with some of the captive Israelites in the Babylonian empire. 
Appearing a' u the same time with the first great philosophers 
of Greece and Persia, with them he caught glimpses of di- 
vine truth, and, like them, he was misrepresented by his fol- 
lowers, who constantly grew more and more degenerate. 
Laou-tse bequeathed his doctrines to posterity in " five thou- 
sand words" which constitute the Taou tali king — " The 
Rule of Reason and Virtue." The work abounds in acute 
apothegms, and some of its passages rise to the character of 
sublimity ; but so incoherent are its contents, that it is im- 
possible for any literal interpretation to form them into a 
system. One of the most remarkable passages to be met 
with in the pagan literature of any country appears in this 
work ; showing an idea of the true God, referring apparent- 
ly to his Trinity of persons, and containing an enigmatical 
expression which appears to veil the name of Jehovah. 

" That which is invisible is called Ye, 
That which is inaudible is called Be, 
That which is impalpable is called Wei. 
These three are inscrutable, 
Therefore they are blended in one. 
The first is not the brighter, 
The last is not the darker. 
It is interminable, ineffable, 
And dates from a time when nothing existed. 
It is a shape without shape ; a form without form, 
A confounding mystery !" 1 

The three syllables, Ye, He, and Wei, which appear in the 
first three lines, are arbitrary sounds, having no meaning in 
the Chinese language ; combined they make Yehewei ; which 
is as near as possible, in the Chinese language, to the origi- 
nal Hebrew pronunciation of Jehovah. 

1 Taou tah king— 14th Sec. W. A. P. M. 



204 FIRST THINGS. 

About 550 B. C. the celebrated Koivj-fa-tzee or Confucius 
collected the traditions of Fo and Laou-tse. Before his day 
the Chinese, while they believed in a Supreme God, wor- 
shipped genii and tutelary gods, and offered victims and 
sacrifices on high places. The Chinese have always been 
conspicuous for the homage they paid to their ancestors, 
blended with their religious rites ; worshipping their spirits 
or manes, they made gods of them. Confucius confined 
himself so entirely to practical things, good laws, and max- 
ims of morality, that not a single doctrine respecting the 
Deity, and the immortality of the soul, is to be traced in his 
writings. His style is extremely laconic. His morality is 
of a higher order than that of any other pagan writer. 
The doctrine of the forgiveness of injuries is emphatically 
set forth and enjoined by him. It is strange also to hear 
such words as these from a pagan : " Worship the Deity as 
though he were present." " If my mind is not engaged in 
worship, it is as though I worshipped not." Confucius, 
however, never refers to a pure and righteous God, 
whose moral law is broken by sin. The Chinese moralists 
had very imperfect ideas of a future state. Instead of a 
future retribution, they endeavored to support virtue by re- 
wards and punishments administered by Divine Providence 
in this life. After his death, Confucius became one of the 
chief objects of worship by the Chinese. The whole empire 
was dotted over with temples to him. Sixty thousand ani- 
mals were provided by government, besides numerous pri- 
vate ones, to be sacrificed to his manes. 

Speaking of the ancient philosophers, the learned Dr. 
Shuckford, in his " Connection of Sacred and Profane His- 
tory," says : " If we look over all the philosophers, and 
consider what the treasures of knowledge were, which they 
had amongst them, we shall find that there were many 
beams of true light shining amidst their dark and con- 
fused notions ; but this light was never derived from any 



FIEST HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS. 205 

use of their reason, for they never could give any reason- 
able account of it. The invisible things of God had 
been some way or other related to them ; and as long as 
they were contented to transmit to posterity what their an- 
cestors had transmitted to them, so long they preserved a 
considerable number of truths ; but whenever they attempted 
to give reasons for these opinions, then in a little time they 
bewildered themselves. Under a notion of advancing their 
science, they ceased to retain the truth in their knowledge, 
and changed the true principles of things which had been 
delivered to them into a false, weak, and inconsistent scheme 
of ill-grounded philosophy." 



CHAPTER XLII. 

FIRST THEATRES — FIRST ACTORS — FIRST TRAGEDIES. 

THEATRICAL representations have been found in some 
form in almost all lands. By some they have been 
thought to have originated from a natural tendency to 
mimicry, almost universal. This is in a great measure true 
as regards the modern drama. But it will be found that in 
most countries dramatic representations originally sprang 
from, and were connected with, their religion ; that they 
grew out of their religious festivals. It was so with the an- 
cient heathen, as far back as their history reaches ; it is so 
with the Indian in his characteristic buffalo and other dances 
of the present day. In early Greece, at the periodical festi- 
vals of their several deities, bands of singers and choristers, 
accompanied by musical instruments, sang the praises of the 
god. At some of these festivals, beside the singers, there 
were performers personating fauns and satyrs ; they being, 
in popular belief, the regular attendants of the god. Thus 
these festivals became a kind of carnival. From these re- 
ligious festivities started the splendid drama of the Greeks. 
The singers and performers at these festivals were first stim- 
ulated to rivalry by the gift of a goat as a prize for the best 
improvisation. Hence the word Tragedy, or song of a goat. 
About the middle of the sixth century, before Christ, Thespis, 
a native of Icaria, introduced a change by coming forward in 
person, with his features masked, and describing with ges- 
tures some mythological story : and then, by some remark, 
or by asking a question, making, from time to time, the cho- 
rus join in. On account of this, he is considered the inven- 
tor of the drama. 

(206) 



PIKST THEATRES — FIRST ACTORS. 207 

A second actor, with the introduction of dialogue, scenery, 
and dresses, was added by JEschylus, who was born of noble 
family about the year 525 before Christ, and is considered 
the "father of Tragedy," and the "theological poet" of 
Greece. He anp 1 Ms two celebrated brothers served their 
country in war, and were highly distinguished for their great 
bravery in several battles. Jllschylus came nigh losing 
his life once under a charge of profanation, for introducing 
on the stage something connected with the mysteries. The 
Athenians stood ready to stone him to death, when his 
brother Aminias interceded for him, by dropping his robe 
and showing the stump of his own arm lost at the battle 
of Salamis. The Athenians could not withstand such an 
appeal and iEschylus was pardoned. He afterwards left his 
native city and went to Sicily, and died there in the sixty- 
ninth year of his age. His death, if the common account is 
true, was of a singular nature. While sitting motionless in 
meditation in a field, his head, now bald, was mistaken for a 
stone by an eagle, which happened to be flying over him with 
a tortoise in her claws. The bird dropped the tortoise to 
break the shell, and the poet was killed by the blow. iEschy- 
lus was a follower of Pythagoras. In his sacred tragedies^ 
seven of which remain, the great problems which lie at the 
foundation of faith and practice are discussed. In this re- 
spect they find their nearest counterpart in the book of Job. 
The actors in his plays handle the grand themes of theology 
very much as they are handled by the good and evil angels 
in Milton's " Paradise Lost." 

Sophocles was born about thirty years after iEschylus. 
Being of a wealthy family, he was highly educated at an 
early age. When only sixteen years old he gained prizes for 
music ; and at the age of twenty-five he bore off the prize in 
the tragic contests from all competitors, among whom was 
the veteran iEschylus, who had been for thirty years the 
master of the Athenian stage. Twenty times did Sophocles 



208 FIRST THINGS. 

bear off the first prize. His theology was not so strongly 
marked in its character, and had not so much of primeval 
tradition as that of iEschylus : proving what JEschylus had 
before held, that the more nearly tradition reached the be- 
ginning, the more truth is in it. Of the hundred tragedies 
written by Sophocles, seven only have come down to our 
day. In his old age Sophocles was appointed a priest to 
Alon, one of the hero-gods of Greece. He had previously 
served the state as a general and in other offices of trust. 
He died at the advanced age of ninety. A statue of him, 
discovered within the last twenty-five years, and now in the 
Vatican at Rome, represents him as the perfection of beauty 
and symmetry. 

Part of God's plan of saving men is " by the foolishness 
of preaching." 1 We have seen that preaching has been in the 
church since the days of Enoch. In this God meets a want 
of our nature, not only of the word itself, but in the plan of 
presenting it. How ready even little children are to listen 
to a tale well told ! This mode of presenting instruction 
was adopted by the first heathen poets and historians. One 
of these poets presented his poems with a plot, and in a dia- 
logue form spoken by himself and others, and the theatre 
appeared. 

" The theatre," says an old Roman writer, " was invented 
for the worship of the gods and the delight of men." It 
owes its birth and growth to heathen worship : and when 
introduced it was used to impart instruction in religion. 
The drama was first exhibited in open air by day, under the 
pure light of heaven. It was a public institution ; and the 
audience might be counted by tens of thousands, comprising 
all classes of the people. At times there were thirty thou- 
sand spectators in the theatre at Athens. Our word person 
comes from the mask worn by the actors in these plays, who 
to make themselves heard in the vast amphitheatres, had the 

1 1 Cor. i. 21. 



FIKST TRAGEDIES. 209 

mouth of the mask formed trumpet-shaped. Hence they 
were called per-sona from the sound coming through. 
" Strange as it may sound to modern ears," says Bishop 
Meade, " the Greek stage came nearer than anything else to 
the Greek pulpit ; the people hung on the lips of the lofty, 
grave tragedians, ior instruction touching the origin, duty, 
and destiny of immortal beings. It was the express office 
of the chorus, which held the most prominent place in the 
ancient drama, to interpret the mysteries of Providence ; to 
justify the ways of God to men, and to plead the cause of 
truth, virtue, and piety. Hence it was usually composed of 
aged men, whose wisdom was fitted to instruct in the true 
and right, or of young women, whose virgin purity would 
instinctively shrink from falsehood and wrong. Greek trag- 
edy carried men back to the origin of our race, up to the 
providence of the gods, and on towards the retribution of 
another world." 

In the course of a comparison of the Greek and Roman 
classics, in referring to the writers of the first plays, Dr. 
Bethune says : " It remained for one in our own language to 
combine the supernatural grandeur of iEschylus, the chast- 
ened sublimity of Sophocles, and the truthful tenderness of 
Euripides, with the pungent wit (and, alas ! too often the 
conceits and the grossness) of the licentious friend of the 
young Alcibiades ?" 

Speaking of these first plays, Professor Tyler 1 says : " No 
Calvinist was ever a more strenuous asserter of the doctrine 
of decrees, than the chorus in these dramas ; at the same 
time no Methodist ever offered up more frequent or more 
fervent prayers." One of the plays says, 

" That which is fated may come to your praying." 

The great doctrines of hereditary depravity, retribution, and 
atonement, also plainly appear in them. Like other pagan 

1 " Theology of iEschylus and Sophocles," by Professor Tyler. 

14 



210 FIRST THINGS. 

writings, however, they are inconsistent, confused, and con- 
tradictory as regards the only true God. Being produced 
shortly after the first philosophers had begun to enlighten 
Greece by their purer doctrines, it may have been on ac- 
count of these comparatively pure teachings, introduced into 
his plays, that iEschylus came so near being stoned to death. 

In the writings of the ancients are found many ideas, 
which, being revived from time to time in a new form, we 
are apt to consider new. Thus Cromwell's celebrated say- 
ing, " Trust Providence, but keep your powder dry," appears 
in iEschylus in another form : When Thebes is defended, 
" The people must pray indeed, but look well to the fortifica- 
tion." The Scripture injunction has always been, " Watch 
and pray." The reproduction of old ideas caused a French 
wit to exclaim against the ancients as plagiarists, " Confound 
the fellows, they stole all our thoughts before we were born." 

At an early period the theatre became, in a measure,; a 
political arena : great questions of state were discussed in it 
by the help of the ancient myths. Afterwards Demosthenes, 
Pericles, and others, by their oratory in the great assemblies 
of the people, swayed them at their pleasure. It was to the 
theatre the Ephesians " rushed with one accord" * when the 
tumult, was raised against Paul by the workmen of the 
shrines of Diana. Like all human inventions, even when 
intended for good, the theatre, instead of making the people 
more religious, soon became by its teachings, its surround- 
ings, and its associations, a school of vice and crime. In all 
ages, and in all countries, its tendency uniformly has been to 
corrupt the morals of the people. The heathen condemned 
it ; and everywhere it now constantly requires the watchful 
eye and the strong arm of the law to restrain its evil influ- 
ence. 

1 Acts xix. 29. 




EASTERN EMPIRE, MICH A ELL. DUCAS , A .D. I 070. 
H ;«H of Chvist 

.'. '• l.i.h li Y 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



FIEST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS. 



THE use of the almost blasphemous expression " the 
almighty dollar," shows the hold which money has on 
the hearts of men. The Scriptures tell us " The love of 
money is the root of all evil." 2 Not money, but the love of 
it ; " covetousness which is idolatry." 3 

It is not surprising, therefore, that money has held an in- 
fluence in history. How small a snm sufficed to form a link 
in that chain, which ended in the redemption of the people 
of God ! " What will ye give me, and I will deliver him 
unto you ? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces 
of silver. And from that time, Judas sought opportunity to 
betray Jesus." * 

Let us take a glance then, at the representative of that 
power, which exerts such an influence in the world ; namely, 
money ; particularly ancient coins, or first money. 

The study of coins has an interest much beyond the mere 
gathering of tokens, or of the cents of the different years, 
for which some persons have a mania at the present day. 
Ancient coinage is closely connected with ancient history ; 
verifying it, and shedding light upon it. There is no reason 
why cents of the dates of 1799 and 1804 should be more 
valuable than those of 1798 and 1803, excepting, that they 

1 Those interested iu coins will find " Humphrey's Coin Collector's Manu- 
al" a valuable and interesting work on the subject ; also, " Ackerman's In- 
troduction to Ancient and Modern Coins." 

2 1 Tim. vi. 10. 3 Col. iii. 5. * Matt. xxvi. 15. 

(211) 



212 



FIRST THINGS, 



are not so plenty. But ancient coins, bringing to our view 
the great rulers of the earth two thousand years ago ; pre- 
senting us the likenesses of Alexander the Great and his suc- 
cessors, of the kings of Syria, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and 
the Caesars of Rome — coins commemorating the great events 
of their reigns, showing us the deities they worshipped, etc. 
— as we handle such coins, the money of their day, and 
look upon the image and superscription, we are at once 
carried back to their times. Who can look at some of the 
coins of Titus, struck when Jerusalem was destroyed, bear? 
ing the words Judaea Capta, and the figure of the mourning 
captive under a palm tree, without being deeply moved, 
while touch and sight bring to mind the horrors of that 
siege, foretold, and so vividly depicted by Moses, sixteen 
hundred years before f and fix the fact of the destruction 
of that city, which will be dear in its associations as long as 
the world shall last. 





CONQUEST OF JUDEA. 



Coins are among the most certain evidences of history. 
In the latter part of the Greek series, they illustrate the 
chronology of the reigns. In the Roman series, they fix the 
dates and the succession of events. The reigns of some of 
the Roman Emperors might almost be written from their 
coins. 

Deut. xxviii. 52. 



FIRST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS. 213 

The first account we have of the use of money was for 
the purchase of a grave. It is found in the touching story 
of the buying of a barying-place by Abraham, to bury his 
dead wife out of his sight. 1 Money appears then to have 
been in common use. Before this, we read of Abimelech's 
giving Abraham a thousand pieces of silver. 2 As cities can- 
not live without commerce, it is likely gold and silver were 
used as currency in the city founded by Cain, to whom Jo- 
sephus attributes the first coining of money. 

At the present day among uncivilized nations, and even in 
many of the thinly settled parts of the United States, trade 
is carried on by barter ; and money, by many, is seldom, if 
ever, seen. Traveling traders would naturally take that 
which was of general use and not perishable ; also what 
was most valuable, and, therefore, could be most convenient- 
ly carried. Hence the choice of metals ; and thus, gold and 
silver, in the earliest ages, became a medium of exchange, 
and served as money wherever civilization existed. 

In Abraham's time, as it is at the present day in the East, 
and in the adjusting of exchange between foreign nations, 
their value, as money, was ascertained by weight. " Abra- 
ham weighed the silver, four hundred shekels, current with 
the merchant." 3 

In the book of Job, the shekel is called Jcesitah (a lamb), 
the weight being probably made in that form. "We see 
weights in the form of sheep and other animals, in the 
Egyptian paintings, and they have been discovered in simi- 
lar forms among the Assyrian remains recently brought to 
light. The lamb may have been adopted to signify that 
that weight of silver represented the value of a lamb ; other 
weights may have represented the value of an ox. The first 
Roman coinage, which we shall notice further on, appears to 
confirm this theory ; the coins being made bearing the 
figure of the animal. 

1 Gen. xxiii. 4. 2 Gen. xx. 16. 3 Gen. xxiii. 16 



214 



FIRST THINGS. 




ANCIENT METHOD OF WEIGHING MONEY. FROM A TOMB IN EGYPT. 



The first money of the Egyptians appears to have been 
in the form of rings. King-money was in circulation in the 
north and west of Europe until after the invasion of Cassar : 
and they are frequently found of various sizes in gold, silver, 
and iron, both in England and Ireland. 

For convenience, a standard of purity of metal and of a 
fixed weight was introduced, and used by independent 
states and cities, with the emblem of the city stamped upon 
the piece. These emblems often represented the deities 
they worshipped. On the early coins, a bunch of grapes 
stood for Bacchus, an ear of wheat for Ceres, etc. ; 
afterwards, the idealized heads or figures of these deities 
were stamped upon them. It is not known when these were 
first introduced. The utility of such pieces of money be- 
came universally felt. The great value of the discovery 
was so evident, that its origin became invested with a mys- 
tic character, and instead of giviug the honor of it to Him 
who has made every provision for the wants of man ; Saturn, 



FIRST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS. 215 

Mercury, and other heathen divinities, have successively re- 
ceived the credit of this important invention. It is some- 
what surprising, that Homer, who wrote more than a thou- 
sand years after Abraham's time, makes no mention of coined 
money ; although almost everything else, connected with 
the affairs of common life in his days, is touched upon in his 
celebrated writings. 

The plentifulness of many coins more than two thousand 
years old, and the low prices at which they can be purchased, 
lead many persons to doubt whether they can be genuine. 
But coins of Alexander the Great, of Constantine, and of 
many other Roman emperors, are exceedingly common, and 
can be purchased for a few shillings each, and some, for a 
few cents. 1 As they were the currency of the whole world in 
their respective days, vast numbers of them were coined. For 
safe keeping, particularly in times of war and of invasion, 
quantities of these coins were buried ; the owners were, per- 
haps, killed or carried away ; leaving these deposits to be 
dug up twenty centuries afterwards. From time to time, 
large quantities of ancient coins are thus brought to light, 
in different places where the Greek or Roman empire once 
extended. 

According to Herodotus, the Lydians first coined money 

1 The following taken from the priced catalogue of coins of W. S. Lincoln 
and Son, London, 1861, will give some idea of the value of ancient coins. 
The prices vary according to the condition and size of the coin, and also, 
the rarity of the type : some bringing very high prices. 
Persian Darics — Silver, five shillings ; Gold, £2.2.0. 
Greek Regal— Philip II. of Macedon ; Gold, £1.15.0 to £3.3.0. 

Alexander the Great ; Gold, £1.10.0 to £2.2.0 ; Silver, from 
two shillings and sixpence to £1.1.0; Copper, one shilling and one 
shilling and sixpence. 
Greek Autonomous — iEgina — Silver, two to seven shillings. 
" " Athens — Silver, two to twelve shillings. 

" " Corinth — Silver, two to five shillings. 

" " various cities — Copper, from threepence upward ; gen- 

erally from one to two shillings each. 



216 FIRST THINGS. 

of gold and silver. The Arundelian marbles tell us, that 
Pliido, the Argive, first struck silver coin in the island of 
iEgina. How early coins were struck in these places is un- 
known : the date generally assigned to them is in the eighth 
century before the Christian era. These coins yet exist in 
considerable numbers, and are easily procurable. They are 
stamped with the symbol of the state, and, as were the prim- 
itive coins, on one side only. {Plate, No. 1, Sardis, Lydia ; 
Plates, Nos. 2 and 4, iEgina.) 

An Ionian coin of the city of Miletus, now in the British 
Museum, is considered to exhibit marks of more ancient 
fabric than any coin hitherto discovered. 




The Persian Darics, mentioned by Herodotus, are coins of 
about the same period. They are to be had both in gold 
and silver. (Plate, No. 3.) 

Greek Autonomous — 50 various — preservation indifferent, one shilling and 

sixpence the lot. 
Egypt— Ptolemy I— Gold, £1.5.0 to £12.12.0. 

Silver, £1.0.0 ; Copper, one shilling and sixpence. 
Roman Family Coins, Silver Denarii — two shillings and upwards ; gener- 
ally about three shillings each. 
Roman Imperial Coins, various Emperors — Gold, £1.1.0 to £2.2.0. 

" " " Silver, from one shilling up- 

wards ; generally about three shillings each. 
Roman Imperial Coins, various Emperors — Brass, from sixpence ujjwards. 
" " " " " 20 various — Brass, two shillings 

and sixpence the lot. 
Roman Imperial Coins — 50 various, chiefly very poor — Brass, one shilling 

and sixpence the lot. 
English Coins — William the Conqueror — Silver Pennies, two shillings. 

" Henry II., Edwards I. and II. — Silver Pennies, one shil- 

ling and sixpence, etc. 



FIEST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS. 217 

The rude indentation on the reverse of the early pieces 
appears to have been succeeded by a hollow square, which 
in later examples is divided into segments, and these again, 
afterwards have some object delineated within them ; still 
later, an object appears, occupying the whole area formed 
by the indented square, and shortly after the full stamp on 
each side presents us with the finished coin. 

At a very early period some of the Greek colonies adopted 
a mode of coinage known as the incused. The punch-mark 
forming a distinct design, sunk in the coin, corresponding 
with the design raised by the die. (See Plate, No. 9.) The 
incused mode was soon abandoned in favor of the more usual 
method. 

It is remarkable, that they, who established, more than 
twenty-five centuries ago, the first coinage as a circulating 
medium, laid the foundations of the very forms, sizes, and 
divisions, found at the present day in all the various curren- 
cies of Europe ; this is strikingly seen in that of Great 
Britain : the stater, drachma, and obolus, corresponding very 
nearly with the sovereign, shilling, and penny. 

The art of coinage rapidly improved, and coins of sur- 
passing beauty soon appeared in different states : those of 
Philip II., of Macedonia (Plate No. 5), and of his son, Alex- 
ander the Great (Plate No. 6), in immense quantities. The 
latter were struck in the various cities of Greece and Asia, 
the first letter of the name, or the recognized type of the 
city being put in the field. 

The coinage of that period was far finer than it was 
a thousand years afterwards. The Greek and Roman 
Churches, holding the truth in unrighteousness, produced 
the dark ages in the arts, as well as in other things ; 
showing in this also, that a perverted Christianity is 
more debasing than a refined paganism. (See Plates, Nos. 
7 and 8.) 

No coins are found of the kings of Israel and Judah. The 



218 



FIRST THINGS 



earliest known coins of the princes of Judea commenced with 
the shekel of Simeon, B. C. 134-135. 




It is strange, also, that no coins are found of the Pharaohs, or 
of the celebrated kings, of ancient Egypt. The coins of the 
kings of Egypt commence with Ptolemy Soter,B. C. 300-285, 




PTOLEMAIC COPPER COIN. 



and end with Cleopatra, B. C. 50-30. Cleopatra has more 
credit for beauty, in history, than her likeness on her coins 
would warrant. 





ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA. 



FIRST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS 



219 



The first Roman coins, according to Pliny, were of brass ; 
and called, from the device of domestic animals stamped 
upon them, Pecuniae from pecu, cattle ; from which comes 
our word pecuniary. Some of these pieces stamped with an 
ox, some with a sow, etc., are yet extant ; they are quite 
rare. One in the Pembroke collection, oblong square shaped 
like a brick, weighed nearly five pounds avoirdupois. The 
common piece called the Ms, brass or bronze, was first made 
of the weight of twelve ounces. The weight of it was after- 
wards reduced by the exigency of the State in times of war. 
The ^Es, or pound, was divided into halves, quarters, ounces, 
etc., called semis, quadrans, uncia, etc. The specimens of the 
iEs now existing have on one side the two-facecl head of Janus, 
and on the reverse the prow of a galley. This device is re- 
ferred to by Macrobius, where he speaks of the Roman boys 
when gambling, tossing up the pieces and crying, Heads or ship. 




The Roman mint was in the temple of Juno Moneta, and 
this occasioned the origin of our word " money." 



220 



FIRST THINGS. 



The series of Roman family or consular coins before the 
empire, of which there are a great variety, are very interest- 
ing ; as in them we first find records of historical events, or 
popular traditions : such as one of the coins of the Tituria 
family, commemorating the rape of the Sabines, and a coin 
of the ^Emilia family, illustrating a passage in Josephus, who 
informs us that M. A. Scaurus having invaded Arabia, Are- 
tas, the king of that country, purchased peace of the Romans 
for the price of five hundred talents. 





TTTUKIA. 

Rape of the Sabines. 



^EMILIA. 
Purchase of Peace by King Aretas. 



The series of Roman imperial coins furnish an unrivaled 
collection of authentic portraits, extending from Julius Caesar 
down to Constantine the Great and his immediate successors. 
Their reverses are extremely various : a new coin being 
struck by each emperor to commemorate every conquest, and 
almost every important event of his reign. 





The first coins of ancient Gaul or France, and of the an- 
cient Britons, were apparently copied from the silver coins of 



FIRST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS. 221 

Philip of Macedon, which found their way over Europe. The 
coinage of these countries became more and more rude as 
copies were afterwards made from copies. 





EARLY GAULISH AND BRITISH. 



This fact shows that a rude execution is not always a proof 
of an early coinage. We have already referred to this in 
the comparison made between the beautiful coins of four 
centuries before the Christian era with the rude coinage of 
ten centuries later. 

Some rare ancient coins bring very high prices ; but some- 
times such coins suddenly become very plenty. In the last 
century the coins of William the Conqueror of England were 
extremely scarce, and they continued to bring high prices 
till in 1833, when an immense number, amounting to about 
twelve thousand, were discovered in a leaden chest at Bea- 
worth in Hampshire. 

It is remarkable that notwithstanding the abundance of 
gold and silver in Mexico and Peru when they were discov- 
ered, the natives did not use them for currency. The circu- 
lating medium of the Aztecs was Cocoa seed. The Peruvians 
used for the same purpose the pod of the Uchu or capsicum. 
In Africa at the present day the common white cowrie shell 
is their money or representative of value. In the year 1840,- 



222 FIRST THINGS. 

nearly four hundred thousand pounds of these shells were 
imported into Calcutta for the African market. It is said 
that it takes camels' loads of these shells to purchase an arti- 
cle of value : making it rather inconvenient to carry a purse 
while shopping. In Nubia, rings of gold and silver are the 
currency. In Manilla, an iron ring is in common circulation. 
In Abyssinia, glass beads, white cotton cloth, and blocks of 
salt, are currency. All showing, as we have already intima- 
ted, that ornaments or necessaries brought into a country by 
traders may be used as money and become currency, till gold 
and silver, current everywhere, take their place ; and show- 
ing also, that many portions of the world are about as civil- 
ized now as the section where Homer lived three thousand 
years ago, where an ox could be bought for a bar of brass 
three feet long, and a woman who understood several useful 
arts was considered equal in value to four oxen. 

From the earliest times the coinage of money was consid- 
ere a State or royal prerogative. In all ages to the present, 
it was therefore considered treason to counterfeit it. The 
Latin word nummus, money, from which comes our word 
numismatics, relating to coins, was taken from the Greek 
nomos, law — nomisma, a piece of money, to express that 
the weight, purity and value were fixed by law. 

The counterfeiting of the public money was probably as 
early as the first public coinage. Counterfeits of the earliest 
coins, apparently made in their day, have been found. They 
are of copper, plated or cased with silver, and some of them 
are considered by coin collectors, for specimens of art and 
as curiosities, almost as valuable as the true coins. That 
there were forgers in early days, we may infer from the laws 
of Solon, six centuries before the Christian era, by which 
counterfeiters were to be punished with death. Among the 
Romans, general pardons did not include the forger. Ac- 
cording to the laws of Constantine the Great, counterfeiters 
were to be burnt alive : and the law of England to a late 



FIRST MONEY — ANCIENT COINS. 223 

period was, the counterfeiter, if a man, was to be drawn and 
hanged ; but if a woman, she was to be burnt. 1 

Thanks be to God ! that which man needs most can be 
bought "without money and without price," 2 faith, and 
eternal life, being the gifts of God, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 3 

1 Statute 25th, Edward III. 2 Isaiah lv. 1 ; Rev. xxii. 1*7. 

3 Rom.vi. 23 ; Eph. ii. 8. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

TYPES AND SYMBOLS IN CREATION, HISTORY AND REDEMPTION. 

FROM the beginning, the Creator has revealed Himself 
and His purposes in creation, providence, and revela- 
tion. In each of these fields we find a remarkable succes- 
sion of types. Every step of the progressive work of crea- 
tion has in it a type of something greater that was to come 
after it. Every step in the development of the plan of Re- 
demption likewise presents a type showing more clearly Him 
who was to come. The great Antitype in each is the Cre- 
ator and Redeemer of the world. The early history of the 
world is, in a great degree, made up of a succession of types. 
The mode of worship, which God instituted for the first four 
thousand years, was almost entirely typical. Through types 
and shadows, through things seen and temporal, we have 
been enabled to conceive things unseen and eternal. 1 

In creation the human appears to be the pattern form, or 
archetype of animal existences. In the structure of all ani- 
mal forms, from fishes to man, there are striking resemblan- 
ces designed to assimilate the lower, as near as circumstan- 
ces would admit, to the higher. Thus, for instance, every 
segment, and almost every bone, present in the human hand 
and arm, exist also in the fin of the whale, though they do 
not seem to be required for the support and movement of 
that undivided and inflexible paddle : and one can think of 
no specific reason for such a peculiarity of structure, excepting 

1 Those wishing to enter more fully into these subjects are referred to the 
work on Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation, by Dr. McCosh and 
Dr. Dickie, and to The Typology of Scripture, by Dr. Fairbairn. Much of 
this chapter has been taken from those works. 
(224) 



TYPES IN CREATION. 225 

the intention of having it brought into the nearest possible 
conformity to the archetype. Most strikingly does the sim- 
ilarity of the human type, coupled with its relative superi- 
ority to the others, appear in regard to the brain, which is 
the most peculiar and distinguishing part of the animal 
frame. " Nature," says Hugh Miller, in his Footprints of the 
Creator, " in constructing this curious organ in man, first 
lays down a grooved cord, as the carpenter lays down the 
keel of his vessel ; and on this narrow base the perfect brain, 
as month after month passes by, is gradually built up, like 
the vessel from the keel. First it grows up into a brain 
closely resembling that of a fish ; a few additions more con- 
vert it into a brain un distinguishable from that of a reptile ; 
a few additions more impart to it the perfect appearance of 
the brain of a bird ; it then developes into a brain exceed- 
ingly like that of a mammiferous quadruped ; and finally, ex- 
panding atop, and spreading out its deeply corrugated lobes, 
till they project widely over the base, it assumes its unique 
character as a human brain. Radically such at the first, it 
passes through all the inferior forms, from that of the fish 
upwards, as if each man were in himself a compendium of 
all animated nature, and of kin to every creature that lives. 
Hence the remark, that man is the sum total of all animals — 
' the animal equivalent/ says Oken, ' to the whole animal 
kingdom.' In the words of Professor Owen, 'all the parts 
and organs of man had been sketched out in anticipation, so 
to speak, in the inferior animals ; and the recognition of an 
ideal exemplar in the vertebrated animals proves, that the 
knowledge of such a being as man must have existed before 
man appeared. - ' " 

The history of God's operations in nature furnishes a 
striking analogy to His plan in providence, as brought out 
in the history of redemption. Here, in like manner, is a 
grand archetypal idea in the person and kingdom of Christ, 
towards which, for ages, the Divine plan was continually 
15 



226 FIRST THINGS. 

working. Partial exhibitions of it appear from time to time 
in certain personages, events, and institutions, that rise 
prominently into view as the course of providence proceeds, 
but all marred with obvious faults and imperfections in re- 
spect to the great object contemplated ; until, at length, the 
idea is seen embodied in Him to whom all the prophets gave 
witness — the God-man, fore-ordained before tlie foundation 
of the toorld. 

Again, to quote the language of Hugh Miller, " The Cre- 
ator, in the first ages of His workings, appears to have been 
associated with what He wrought simply as the producer or 
author of all things. But, even in those ages, as scene af- 
ter scene, and one dynasty of the inferior animals succeeded 
another, there were strange typical indications which pre- 
Adamite students of prophecy among the spiritual existences 
of the universe might possibly have aspired to read — sym- 
bolical indications to the effect that the Creator was in the 
future to be more intimately connected with His material 
works than in the past, through a glorious creature made in 
His own image and likeness. And to this semblance and 
portraiture of the Deity — the first Adam — all the merely 
natural symbols seem to refer. But in the eternal decrees 
it had been forever determined that the union of the Crea- 
tor with creation was not to be a mere union by proxy or 
semblance. And no sooner had the first Adam appeared and 
fallen, than a new school of prophecy began, in which type 
and symbol were mingled with what had now its first exist- 
ence on earth — verbal enunciations ; and all pointed to the 
second Adam, ' the Lord from heaven.' In him creation and 
the Creator meet in reality and not in semblance. On the 
very apex of the finished pyramid of being sits the adorable 
Monarch of all : — as the son of Mary — of David — of the first 
Adam, the created of God ; as God and the Son of God, the 
eternal Creator of the universe. And these — the two 
Adams — form the main theme of all prophecy, natural and 



TYPES IN HISTORY AND REDEMPTION. 227 

revealed. And that type and symbol should have been em- 
ployed with reference not only to the second, but — as held by 
men like Agassiz and Owen — to the first Adam also, exempli- 
fies, we are disposed to think, the unity of the style of Deity, 
and serves to show that it was He who created the worlds, 
that dictated the Scriptures." 

As creation presents to us a series of types foreshadowing 
the coming of the Creator, so in history, in revelation, and in 
the mode of worship which God instituted, we likewise see a 
succession of types progressively revealing to us, more and 
more clearly, God the Saviour, the plan of redemption, and the 
world to come. From the beginning the people of God have 
been instructed in spiritual things by means of types, as mod- 
els or exemplars. As " the law was our schoolmaster to bring 
us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith," 1 and 
will continue to serve as such ; so these types, so prominent 
in history, composing so large a part of the ancient forms 
of worship, and referred to so frequently in the New Testa- 
ment, were constructed to express symbolically the great 
truths of a spiritual religion. They yet serve to enable us 
the better to understand the things which are spiritual, 
while some of them " are written for our admonition, upon 
whom the ends of the world are come." 2 The explanation of 
the leading types of the old dispensation, showing their fulfill- 
ment in Christ, forms the subject matter of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews. The prophetical import of types and their connec- 
tion with the antitype show that both were preordained, 
and that the God of revelation and the God of providence 
is one. 

Not only are the sacrifices, and the tabernacle, with its 
furniture and services, affirmed to have been of a typical 
nature, but frequent reference is made in the Scriptures to 
various persons or characters, and likewise to transactions 
or events, as being typical. Among these persons are Adam 

1 GaL iii. 24. s 1 Cor. x. 11 ; ix. 10. 



228 PIEST THINGS. 

(Rom. v. 11, 12, 19 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22), Melchizedec (Heb. vii.), 
Sarah, and Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac, and, by implication, 
Abraham (Gal. iv. 22-25), Moses (Gal. iii. 19 ; Acts iii. 
22-26), Jonah (Matt. xii. 40), David (Ezek. xxxvii. 24; 
Luke i. 32, etc.), Solomon (2 Sam. vii.), Zerubbabel and 
Joshua (Zech. iii. iv. ; Hag. ii. 23). Among the events 
spoken of as typical, are, the preservation of Noah and his 
family in the ark (1 Pet. iii. 20) ; the redemption from Egypt, 
and its passover-memorial (Luke xxii. 15, 16 ; 1 Cor. v. 7) ; 
the exodus (Matt. ii. 15) ; the passage through the Red Sea ; 
the giving of manna ; Moses' veiling of his face while the 
law was read ; the water flowing from the smitten rock ; 
the serpent lifted up for healing in the wilderness, and some 
other things that befell the Israelites there (1 Cor. x. ; John 
iii. 14 ; vi. 33 ; Rev. ii. 17). We look forward, in accordance 
with the Revelation, to another Paradise, containing the tree 
of life and the cherubim. The eternal Sabbath is also yet 
future. 

Sometimes a prediction is connected with the type : as 
when Zechariah takes occasion from the building of the tem- 
ple in Jerusalem to foretell the more glorious temple to 
come : " Behold the man, whose name is the Branch ; and He 
shall grow up out of His place, and. He shall build the tem- 
ple of the Lord ; even He shall build the temple of the 
Lord," l etc. The building of the temple was itself typical 
of the incarnation of God in the person of Christ, and of the 
raising up in Him of a spiritual house that should be " an 
habitation of God through the Spirit." (John ii. 19 ; Matt, 
xvi. 18 ; Eph. ii. 20, 22.) 

Speaking of these types, McCosh says, " In the natural 
kingdom all inferior organisms point onward and upward to 
man ; in the spiritual kingdom all life points onward and 
upward to Christ. A typical system runs through the whole 
Divine economy revealed in the Word. First, Adam is the. 
1 Zech. vi. 12, 13, 



TYPES IN HISTORY AND REDEMPTION. 229 

type of man. He and his posterity are all of the same es- 
sential nature, possessing similar powers of intuition and un- 
derstanding, of will and emotion, of conscience and free 
agency, and God acts towards them in the dispensations of 
grace as in the dispensations of nature, as being one. Then, 
from the time of the Fall, we have two different typical 
forms, the one after the seed of the serpent, the other after 
the seed of the woman. Henceforth, there is a contest be- 
tween the serpent and Him who is to destroy the power of 
the serpent, between the flesh and the Spirit, between the 
world and the Church. Two manner of people are now 
seen struggling in the womb of time — a Cain and an Abel, 
an Ishmael and an Isaac, an Esau and a Jacob, an Absalom 
and a Solomon, the elder born after the flesh, and the 
younger after the Spirit." 

In short, there are now, as there have ever been, but two 
men on our earth typical or representative ; the first man, 
which is Adam, the second, which is Christ. " And so it is 
written, The first man Adam was made a living soul ; the 
last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, that 
was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural ; 
and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of 
the earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from heaven.' 7 i 
Each Adam was the federal head of his seed. The seed of 
the first Adam sinned and died in him : the children of 
Christ, the second Adam, forever stand in " their head ; 2 
having in him a perfect righteousness. " As, by the offence 
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation : even 
so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all 
men unto justification of life. For, as by one man's dis- 
obedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of 
one shall many be made righteous : " 3 " as in Adam all die, 
even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 4 

1 1 Cor. xv. 45-47. a Col. i. 18. 

3 Rom. v. 19. 4 1 Cor. xv. 22. 



230 FIEST THINGS. 

Again to use the words of McCosli, " It had been deter- 
mined, in eternity, that ' He whose delights were with the 
children of men/ should come to our earth in the fullness 
of time. He is called ' the Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world ; ' and as soon as man falls, there are symbols 
of Him. The prefigurations of Christ may be divided into 
three classes : — typical ordinances, personages, and events. 
These ordinances all impart substantially the same instruc- 
tion ; all point to guilt contracted, to God offended, to a 
propitiation provided, and to acceptance secured through 
this propitiation ; the four great cardinal truths of revealed 
religion, as addressed to fallen man. There were sacrifices, 
in which the offerer, placing his hand on the head of the 
animal, and devoting it to destruction in his room and 
stead, expressed symbolically his belief in those great saving 
truths. There was the tabernacle, with the people worship- 
ping outside, and the Shechinah, which had to be sprinkled 
with blood, in its innermost recesses, pointing to an offended 
God, but a God who was to be propitiated through the 
shedding of blood. There was the ark of the covenant, 
with the tables of the law inside, and the pot of manna, and 
the rod that budded, and, over all, the cherubim shadowing 
the mercy-seat — fit symbol of an arrangement by which the 
law is fulfilled, and provision made for a revival of life, and 
a supply of spiritual food by a God ready to meet with, and 
to commune with us on the mercy-seat. There is the scape- 
goat, with the sins of the people laid upon it, pointing, as 
clearly as the Baptist did, to "the Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sins of the world." The typical persons 
shadowed the prophetical, priestly, and kingly offices of 
Christ. The typical events exhibit the same truths in a 
still more impressive form : such as the flood, in which many 
perish, but a few, that is, eight souls, are saved by an ark 
symbolical of the Saviour. The most instructive of these 
events is the deliverance from Egypt. The state of the He- 



TYPES IN HISTORY AND REDEMPTION. 231 

brews as bondsmen, the deliverer prepared for his work by 
suffering, the method of the deliverance in the midst of con- 
tests and judgments, the wonderfully instructive journey 
through the wilderness, with the provision made for the sus- 
tenance of the people, and the statutes delivered, are as cer- 
tainly anticipations of a higher redemption to follow, as the 
fish's and reptile's digits are anticipations of the fingers of 
men. We are trained in this training of the children of 
Israel ; and by means of the discipline through which they 
were put, our imagining faculty has acquired some of our 
clearest and liveliest, some of our most profound and com- 
forting representations of the method of redemption." 

Every Christian sees in the deliverance of the people of 
God from Egypt, and in their journey through the wilder- 
ness, the type of his own experience. His deliverance from 
the " powers of darkness" by the Almighty power of God is 
miraculous. While journeying towards the promised inheri- 
tance he finds himself constantly falling into sin, and as con- 
stantly delivered by his Saviour. He needs daily to apply 
to the " Lamb that was slain" for pardon and for righteous- 
ness. It is necessary for him daily to gather a supply of 
heavenly manna, to feed upon Christ the " true bread from 
heaven." 1 He drinks " the same spiritual drink ; for they 
drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them ; and that 
Rock was Christ." 2 He knows that the great High Priest, 
Christ Jesus, after " he had by himself purged our sins," 
" hath entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal 
redemption for us," " into heaven itself, now to appear in the 
presence of God for us : " 3 and he has the assurance, that when 
he reaches Jordan, he will find there Jesus, the High Priest ; 
for He has passed before him with the ark of the covenant, 
and will be with him in the midst of the river, holding back 
the waters of death, until he has passed triumphantly into 
the heavenly Canaan. 

John vi. 32, 48. 1 Cor. x. 4. s Heb. i. 3 : ix. 12. 24. 



232 FIRST THINGS. 

God has likewise always used symbols to impart a know- 
ledge of Himself and to instruct us in spiritual things. 
These symbols should be studied, for the noblest study of 
mankind is not man, but God. Paul, who was very highly 
educated, said, " I count all other things but loss for the ex- 
cellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." ] He 
might well say so : for the knowledge of Him is the foun- 
dation of all knowledge ; it " is life eternal." 2 The burn- 
ing Bush, the cloud over the Tabernacle and the mercy seat, 
and the Dove, were symbols in which God manifested him- 
self. He reveals himself to our comprehension in a most 
lovely and loving aspect in the symbolical names which He 
has assumed ; such, as our Father, Husband, Elder Brother, 
Redeemer, Comforter, Shepherd, Shield, Refuge, Dwelling- 
place, etc., etc. Most of the public teachings of our Saviour 
were by the use of symbolical allegories, or parables. God 
has also ordained certain symbols to be used until the end of 
the world as seals of covenant blessings. The great Sacra- 
ments of the Church have always been symbolical. Circum- 
cision, and the Passover, in the old dispensation, and Bap- 
tism, and the Lord's Supper, in the new, are symbols of deep 
import ; designed to instruct, and to seal covenant blessings 
to the people of God. 

We still live under a dispensation of types and symbols. 
The great spiritual temple, of which " Christ is the corner 
stone," 3 is still in progress of erection. As in nature each 
leaf bears in it the image of the entire tree, so each living 
stone in this temple is carved after the similitude of the 
whole temple. Christ is the "head of the body, the 
Church." 4 Every member of that body, created anew in 
the likeness of God, " is predestinated to be conformed to 
His image." 6 Here we bear his image ; in heaven, " we shall 
be like Him, for we shall see Him, as he is." 8 

' Phil. Hi. 8. 3 Eph. ii. 20-22. 6 Rom. viii. 29. 

a John xvii. 3. 4 Col. i. 18. ° 1 John iii. 2, 



CHAPTER XLV. 

ANALOGIES IN CREATION AND THE COURSE OF NATURE TO 
REVEALED RELIGION. 

IN creation, and in what we call the laws of nature, there 
are many striking analogies to the great revelations 
contained in the word of God concerning His moral gov- 
ernment, man's responsibility, a future life, and a future 
eternal state of rewards and punishments. 1 

As the manifold appearances of design in creation prove 
it to be the work of an intelligent mind, so particular causes 
of pleasure and pain distributed amongst His creatures prove 
that they are under His government, as subjects under a 
moral ruler, or as children under a parent. The immediate 
effects of virtue and vice show that we are under such a 
Ruler. The natural attendants of innocence and virtue are 
a sense of inward security and peace, a mind open to the 
gratifications of life, complacency, and joy ; while vice is 
naturally attended with uneasiness and apprehension. The 
moral nature given to us also proves that we are under a 
moral Governor. All good men approve virtuous actions, 
and sometimes public honors are accorded to them, while 
vicious actions are punished as mischievous to society. In 
the domestic circle children are rewarded or punished ac- 
cording to their deeds. All these declarations of the Author 
of Nature, being so clearly for virtue and against vice in the 

1 The leading thoughts of this chapter are taken from the celebrated work 
entitled " The Analogy of Religion Natural and Revealed to the Constitu- 
tion and Course of Nature," by Joseph Butler, late Lord Bishop of Durham^ 
to which the reader is referred as the most complete work on that subject; 
(233) 



234 FIRST THINGS. 

natural government of the world, are grounds to hope and to 
fear that they will be rewarded and punished in accordance 
with His word in higher degrees hereafter. 

The general doctrine of Keligion is that our present life 
is a state of preparation for a future one : a state implying 
trial, difficulties, and dangers. In the natural government 
of God we find ourselves in such a state of trial. He has 
annexed pleasure to some actions and pain to others which 
are in our power to do or forbear, and has given us a notice 
of such results beforehand. People often blame others, and 
even themselves, for their misconduct in their temporal con- 
cerns. Many miss that happiness which they might have at- 
tained in the present life, and many run themselves into 
extreme distress and misery, not through incapacity of know- 
ing, or of doing better, but through their own fault. Every 
one knows the hazards which young people run upon their 
setting out in the world. Thus, in our natural or temporal 
capacity, we are in a state of difficulty and danger, analogous 
or like to our moral and religious trial upon which our final 
happiness or misery depends. 

Many things in nature, besides the changes which we have 
already undergone and which we know that we may undergo 
without being destroyed, suggest to us that we shall survive 
death and exist in a future state. We have abundant evi- 
dence that the same creatures may exist in different degrees 
of life and with different capacities of action, of enjoyment, 
and suffering. Our changes since infancy, the change of the 
caterpillar to a chrysalis, and then to a butterfly, and the 
vast enlargement of their locomotive powers by such change, 
are instances of this general law of nature. The matter 
composing our bodies is constantly changing, and every few 
years is entirely different from what it was, yet we do not 
lose our existence or identity. We know that our living 
powers exist, even when through sleep or a swoon we are 
unable sensibly to exercise them. We see that men may 



ANALOGIES IN NATURE TO REVELATION. 235 

lose their limbs, their organs of sense, and even the greatest 
part of their bodies, and yet remain the same living agents : 
so that we may infer, that they might lose the whole body 
and still exist the same. 

The same may be inferred, if we consider our body as con- 
stituted of organs and instruments of perception and motion. 
Optical experiments show that we see with our eyes in the 
same sense as we see with glasses ; both being instrumental 
in preparing objects for, and conveying them to the perceiv- 
ing power. In dreams, we find we possess a latent power of 
perceiving sensible objects, in as strong and lively a manner, 
without our external organs of sense, as with them. So in 
regard to our power of moving or directing motion by will 
and choice ; upon our losing a limb this active power re- 
mains unlessened : it can walk with an artificial leg. A 
man determines that he will look at such an object with a 
microscope, or if lame that he will walk to such a place with 
a staff a week hence. His eyes and his feet no more deter- 
mine in these cases than the microscope and the staff. Thus 
our organs of sense and our limbs are certain instruments 
which the living persons ourselves make use of, and there is 
no probability that the alienation or dissolution of these in- 
struments is the destruction of the perceiving and moving 
agent. 

Our powers and capacities of reason, memory, and affec- 
tion, are independent of the body ; so that we have no ground 
to think that the dissolution of the body will be the destruc- 
tion of those powers. In some diseases, persons the moment 
before death appear to be in the highest vigor of life. They 
discover apprehension, memory, reason, all entire ; with the 
utmost force of affection ; sense of a character of shame and 
honor ; and of the highest mental enjoyments and sufferings, 
even to the last gasp. 

Our capacity of happiness and misery makes the question 
of a future life of great importance, and the thought that our 



236 FIRST THINGS. 

happiness or misery depend upon our actions here adds to 
its importance. We see in the present state a system of 
rewards and punishments. Pleasure and pain are the conse- 
quences of our actions : and we are endowed by the Author 
of our nature with capacities of foreseeing these conse- 
quences. All we enjoy and a great part of what we suffer 
is put in our ownpoiver. We are to provide ourselves with 
and make use of that sustenance which He has appointed to 
preserve our lives, if we do not, they are not preserved. 
Some by the use of certain means have ease and quiet, while 
others will follow those ways the fruit of which they know 
beforehand by instruction, example, and experience, will be 
disgrace and poverty, and sickness and untimely death. The 
pain which we feel upon doing what tends to the destruction 
of our bodies, say, by wounding ourselves or by too near ap- 
proaches to fire, are associated by the Author of Nature to 
prevent our doing what thus tends to our destruction ; and 
show as plainly as by a voice from heaven, that, if we acted 
so, such pain should be inflicted upon us. Thus the whole 
analogy of nature agrees with the general doctrine of reli- 
gion that God will reward and punish men for their actions. 
Let us now examine the circumstances in the natural 
course of punishments at present, which are analogous to 
what religion teaches concerning a future and an eternal 
state of punishment. Punishments now often follow, or are 
inflicted in consequence of actions which procure present 
advantage, and are accompanied with much pleasure : for 
instance, sickness and untimely death are the consequence 
of intemperance, though accompanied with the highest 
mirth and jollity ; and these punishments are often much 
greater than the advantages or pleasures obtained by the 
actions. These punishments or miseries are often delayed a 
great while ; sometimes till long after the actions occasion- 
ing them are forgotten ; and after such delay, they often 
come suddenly, with violence and at once. The excuse of 



ANALOGIES IN NATUEE TO EEVELATION. 237 

the natural thoughtlessness of youth does not prevent the 
consequences of early rashness and folly ; the success, happi- 
ness, or misery of the whole future life depend in a great 
degree upon the manner in which they pass their youth. 
We have seasons and opportunities for procuring advantages 
at certain times, which, if neglected, can never be recalled. 
If the husbandman lets his seed-time pass without sowing, 
the whole year is lost to him beyond recovery. Though 
men may sometimes retrieve their affairs, and recover health 
and character, there is a certain degree which, if exceeded, 
no reformation is of any avail ; repentance is too late to re- 
lieve ; poverty and sickness, remorse and anguish, infamy 
and death, the effects of their own doings, overwhelm them 
beyond possibility of remedy or escape. 

These things are not accidental ; but proceed from the 
general laws by which God governs the world in the natural 
course of His providence : and they are so analogous to 
what His word teaches us concerning the future punishment 
of the wicked, that both would naturally be expressed in the 
same words ; " Because I have called, and ye refused ; I 
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye 
have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my 
reproof : I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock 
when your fear cometh ; when your fear cometh as desola- 
tion, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when 
distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they 
call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me 
early, but they shall not find me." x 

There are many analogies in history to the teachings in 
the Word of God connecting the salvation of the righteous 
with the perdition of the wicked. The signal preservation 
of the Lord's people has generally been connected with the 
destruction of His enemies. It was thus when Noah and 
his household were saved, and the rest of the world were 

1 Prov. i. 24-31. 



238 FIRST THINGS. 

destroyed ; when Lot and his family were saved, and Sodom 
and Gomorrah were burnt ; when the Israelites were de- 
livered and the Egyptians were drowned ; when Mordecai 
and the Jews were preserved, while Haman and his follow- 
ers were slain, etc. We are told that it will be so at the 
end of the world, when the saints shall be delivered and the 
nations gathered against them shall be destroyed by fire 
from heaven. 1 It will be so at the last day, when the great 
final separation shall take place, when the wicked " shall go 
away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into 
life eternal." 2 

Our Saviour often made use of the analogies of nature in 
his parables, especially in those describing the kingdom of 
heaven and the great harvest at the end of the world. The 
parable of the man who sowed good seed in his field, into 
which his enemy came and sowed tares, and the explanation 
of it, are full of instruction : " He that soweth the good 
seed is the Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good 
seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are the 
children of the wicked one ; the enemy that sowed them is 
the devil ; the harvest is the end of the world ; and the 
reapers are the angels. As, therefore, the tares are gathered 
and burned in the fire ; so shall it be in the end of the 
world." 3 Paul, likewise, in his description of the resurrec- 
tion, refers to an analogy in nature. He uses a short method 
with the skeptical inquirer who asks, " How are the dead 
raised up ? and with what body do they come ? Thou fool, 
that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die." * 

1 Rev. xx. 8, 9. 2 Matt. xxv. 46. 

i Matt. xiii. 24-30, 36-43. 4 1 Cor. xv. 35. 



CHAPTER XLYI. 

NEW MANIFESTATION OP GOD — THE GREATEST EVENT IN HIS- 
TORY — THE MOST WONDERFUL BEING — THE LORD JESUS 
CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD AND THE SON OF MAN — FOUN- 
DATION OF A NEW UNIVERSAL KINGDOM. 

THE most wonderful, and by far the most important 
event in all history, was the coming of the " Creator 
of all things," 1 the eternal Son of God, into the world : his 
taking a human nature ; 2 joining it with his divine, and 
then, as the Messiah or Christ, suffering and dying to redeem 
and save a chosen people. 3 It is the great fact of history : 
the key which opens history and enables us to understand it. 
Through it alone we learn the purposes and workings of 
Him who makes history : the past is explained, and the fu- 
ture is revealed to us. Take the life, sufferings, and death 
of the " Lamb of God," and their results, out of history, and 
it becomes to us a sealed book : as it is described by John 
in Revelation, " no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither 
under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look 
thereon :" until He who is " in the midst of the throne, a 
Lamb as it had been slain," omnipotent and omniscient, pre- 
vailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. 4 In 
history, as well as in the way of salvation, the Lord Jesus 
Christ is the " Light of the world." 5 

Let us take a glance at the previous revelations of himself 
made by the Creator, and at the effects they had produced. 
During the four thousand years then past. God had been 

1 John i. 3, 10 ; Col. L 16, 11 ; Heb. i. 2, 10. 2 John i. 14 ; Phil. ii. 6, 7. 

3 John x. 15 ; Titus ii. 14 ; Rev. v. 9. 4 Rev. v. 3, 5, C. 5 John viii 12. 

(239) 



240 FIRST THINGS. 

maturing and developing the work of redemption. While 
doing this, He had been revealing himself in divers ways, 
each more and more distinct, to the children of men : and 
they, with each clearer manifestation of God, had shown 
more evidently their hatred of Him. In creation, " the invis- 
ible things of Him are clearly seen by the things that are 
made, even his eternal power and Godhead ;" but " they glo- 
rified him not as God, but changed the glory of the incor- 
ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, 
and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." ' In 
His providence, He had made the sun to rise and had sent 
rain and fruitful seasons on the just and on the unjust ; but 
everywhere men were discontented, neither were they thank- 
ful. He made a clearer revelation of himself, showing that 
" God is love," 2 when He proclaimed his law and his com- 
mandments, the whole of which are contained in the precepts, 
" Thou shalt love God with all your heart and your neigh- 
bor as yourself :" 3 but men universally rejected his law : no 
man ever kept it. 4 He at last revealed himself visibly and 
fully : " God was manifest in the flesh," 5 in the person of the 
Lord Jesus Christ : and although He came expressly to save 
sinners, and was continually engaged in going about doing 
good, the cry of the whole multitude was, " Away with him, 
crucify him." Such is the treatment God has always received 
from fallen man : and such is the treatment he now receives 
from all men ; till they are born again of the Holy Ghost. 

Although during the four thousand years which had passed 
since the creation, God had kept a visible church in the 
world ; had been continually sending in His name teachers 
and prophets ; had given by inspiration a written word con- 
taining the evidences of its divine origin by its wonderful 
revelations and by the purity of its teachings ; and had been 
confirming that word by miracles and by signs following, 

1 Rom. i. 20, 21. 2 1 John iv. 16. s Mark xii. 29 ; Rom. xiii. 10. 

4 Rom. iii. 10, 20, 23. " 1 Tim. iii. 16. 



NEW MANIFESTATION OP GOD. 241 

and by prophecies foretelling events, many of which had 
afterwards been fulfilled ; still, with the exception of Judea, 
the whole world had sunk into the darkness of heathenism, 
when Jesus Christ appeared. And even Judea itself, the 
then visible church of God, held the truth in such unright- 
eousness that when He who was " the Truth" appeared, Ju- 
dea was the first to raise the cry, " Crucify him." 

In accordance with the prophecies long before proclaimed 
in the word of God, the Assyrian, Chaldean, Median and 
Persian, and Grecian empires, had successively passed away, 
and Nineveh, that great city, had disappeared. The last of 
the great empires spoken of by Daniel was then controlling 
the world ; and the time which he had foretold had come, 
when " the God of heaven was to set up a kingdom, which 
shall never be destroyed." x The seventy prophetical weeks 
(the four hundred and forty-nine days or years) of which he 
spoke, were accomplished, " when the Messiah the Prince 
was to come and be cut off but not for himself." 2 The world 
was prepared for the advent of Christ. There was univer- 
sal peace : the Scriptures had been translated two centuries 
before into the leading vulgar tongue, and were read in the 
Jewish synagogues then scattered in the various countries : 
many of the promises contained in the word of God of the 
coming of a great Deliverer had found their way among the 
nations. Men were expecting a great Restorer of the race 
and the Jews were looking for the promised Messiah. It 
was at this time that the most important event in its bear- 
ings on the destinies of all mankind occurred. God fulfilled 
the wonderful word spoken by Isaiah : " Unto us a child is 
born, unto us a son is given : and the government shall be 
upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the 
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and 
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and 

1 Dan. ii. 44. 2 Dan. ix. 25, 

16 



242 FIEST THINGS. 

upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it for ever." * 
The promised Seed of the woman, who was to crush the 
serpent's head ; 2 he " in whom all the nations of the earth 
were to be blessed," 3 appeared. 

The Messiah was appropriately named " Wonderful? 1 He 
frequently spake of himself as " the Son of Man." He was a 
man : and what a man ! the most wonderful that ever ex- 
isted. When he appeared nearly all men were idolaters : 
and the most awful corruption of morals everywhere pre- 
vailed ; even in Judea itself. Nazareth, where Jesus lived 
from early childhood till he was thirty years old, was so no- 
torious for its degradation, that it had become a proverb : 
" Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" 4 There 
he lived until he entered upon his short ministry of three 
years, in a polluted atmosphere, a working carpenter : poor, 
unknown, untaught, inexperienced, and unbefriended. What 
could be expected from such a man surrounded by such in- 
fluences? 

Behold the man ! See him come forth even from Nazareth, 
so pure, so holy, that he can challenge his enemies, " Which 
of you convinceth me of sin ?" 5 And while all the rest of 
the best men that have ever lived have constantly felt that 
they were sinners, and abhorred themselves as such, this 
man is so pure as to be unconscious of guilt or sin : and can 
say, " I do always those things that please the Father :" 6 
" the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." 7 

See this man ! without learning, having " never learned 
letters." 8 Hear him uttering far sublimer truths, proclaim- 
ing more expanded ideas of the human soul and of eternity, 
teaching a far higher standard of morals, introducing a 
purer worship of God, and giving much clearer views of 
God himself, infinitely above all that can be gathered from 

1 Isaiah ix. 6, 7. 3 Gen. xii. 3 ; Acts Hi. 25, 26. 6 John viii. 46. 

2 Gen. Hi. 15. * John i. 46. B John viii. 29. 

7 John xiv. 30. e John vii. 15. 



THE MOST WONDERFUL BEING IN HISTORY. 243 

the teachings of the wisest and most learned men who had 
ever lived before him. And while they who are called 
the philosophers and the wise men of the world, after years 
of study and of travel in pursuit of knowledge, doubtingly 
put forth only a few confused, contradictory, uncertain, and 
unsatisfactory teachings, with which they confess that they 
themselves are not satisfied ; hear this young man, uttering 
great truths as one having authority to command obedience 
to his words, saying : " Ye have heard this, and that : but 
I say unto you, Thus, and So." ' Well might the officers 
sent to apprehend Jesus exclaim, " Never man spake like this 
man." 2 

See this man ! a carpenter's son coming from despised 
Nazareth ; not having where to lay his head ; 3 himself re- 
quired to pay tribute, and so poor that he had not the small 
coin required of him : 4 hear him say to Pilate, " I am a 
king." 5 The Jews were then restless under the Roman 
yoke ; they were looking for the promised Messiah ; their 
idea was, that he would occupy the throne of David as the 
greatest monarch on earth, and make their kingdom surpass 
in grandeur all the kingdoms of the world. When they had 
seen the miracles this man performed, they thought God 
must be with him, and that he was the prophet that was to 
come ; and they were about to take him by force and make 
him a king. 6 See him escaping from them, turning away 
from earthly power and glory, and choosing poverty and 
the cross instead. 

See this man ! without education or friends : starting a 
novel kingdom, hitherto unheard of in the world. A uni- 
versal spiritual kingdom in the hearts and consciences of 
men. Commencing it by proclaiming, " If any man will 
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, 

1 Matt. v. 22, 28, 34, 39, 44. 4 Matt. xvii. 2V. 

2 John. vii. 46. * John xviii. 3*7 ; Luke xxiii. 3. 

3 Matt. viii. 20. 6 John vi. 15. 



244 FIRST THINGS. 

and follow me." 1 A kingdom entirely contrary to the preju- 
dices, superstitions and hopes of his own countrymen ; in every 
way different from the religious views and the manner of life 
hitherto received and cherished by the whole world : en- 
tirely in opposition to the natural heart ; and intended to 
crush Satan, who controls the natural heart of all men. No 
wonder that all classes of men at once demanded that Jesus 
should die. No wonder that, to procure his death, Satan 
himself entered into Judas. 2 

See this man ! founding the greatest kingdom the world 
has ever seen ; having only a few followers, from the lower 
walks of life, ready to forsake him and flee at the approach 
of danger ; and beginning his kingdom by telling them, " Ye 
shall be hated of all men for my sake." 3 See him calmly 
enduring frowns, reproaches, and curses ; never doubting, 
never hesitating, never disappointed ; steadily pursuing his 
way, knowing and foretelling that that way led to sufferings 
and a cruel death. He collected no armies, no resources 
of power or war ; invaded no territory ; assumed no state ; 
expressly said his kingdom was not of this world, therefore, 
his servants did not fight ; 4 affected no singularity ; his 
dress, his speech, and his mode of living continuing to the 
last the same as those of the common people. He went 
about doing good ; uttered a few truths to any sort of 
persons, anywhere, at any time, in the simplest words ; 
left not a line or a word of writing ; and died an ignominious 
death. Hear him in his agony in the garden : " my 
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I 
drink it, thy will be done." 5 Hear him in his agony on the 
cross, praying for his murderers : " Father, forgive them ; 
for they know not what they do." 6 Was there ever a king- 
dom thus started ? What a king ! What a man ! 7 

1 Matt. xvi. 24. 2 Luke xxii. S. s Matt. x. 22. 

4 John xviii. 36. 6 M".tt. xxvi. 42. 6 Luke xxiii. 34. 

7 " The Christ of History : an argument grounded in the facts of his life 



THE MOST WONDERFUL BEING IN HISTORY. 245 

But, still more wonderful ! this son of man was, also, the 
"Son of God;" Jehovah, the Lord. Joining the two na- 
tures, God and man, he became the Messiah, or Christ. 1 To 
the world, and to each one of us, this is the most interesting 
fact in all history. Our eternal happiness, or our everlasting 
misery , depends upon our faith in this fact. ""Whosoever 
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God," 2 and 
" hath eternal life ; " 3 and " he that believeth not the Son, is 
condemned already ; shall not see life : but the wrath of 
God abideth on him." 4 

To this wonderful being, the Lord Jesus Christ, are as- 
cribed the names ; 5 the works ; 6 and the attributes, of God. 7 
He is the Creator of all worlds ; 8 of all things, visible and 
invisible ; 9 and by him all things consist. 10 Angels and men 
are directed to worship him ; u and to honor him as equal 
with God. 12 He is omnipotent ; l3 having " all power in heaven 
and in earth ; " 14 " angels, and authorities and powers being 
made subject unto him." 15 He is omniscient ; 16 he is omni- 
present. 17 Well might he, who was " God manifest in the 
flesh," 18 say to the leper : "J will ; he tliou clean ;" 19 and to 

on earth," by John Young, a very able and interesting work ; proving the 
divinity of Jesus from some of the historical facts, which present his man- 
hood; has furnished many thoughts for this chapter. 

1 Matt. xvi. 15, 16. ]2 Phil. ii. 6 ; John v. 23 ; x. 30. 

2 1 John v. 1 ; Matt. xvi. 1*7- u John xiv. 14 ; Rev. i. 8. 

3 John iii. 16, 36. M Matt, xxviii. 18 ; Heb. i. 8. 

4 John iii. 18, 36. ' 5 1 Pet. iii. 22; Eph. i. 21. 

5 Isaiah ix. 6 ; John i. 1 ; xx. 28 ; lfi Matt. ix. 4 ; John ii. 24, 25 ; 

Rom. ix. 5 ; Acts vii. 59, 60 ; Acts i. 24 ; John xvi. 30 ; xxi. 

Heb. i. 8; 1 John v. 20. IT; Rev. ii. 23. 

6 John v. 21 ; i. 3 ; Col. i. 16. " Matt, xviii. 20 ; xxviii. 20 ; John 

7 Col. ii. 3, 9; Heb. xiii. 8; John iii. 13; xiv. 18, 23; Acts xviii. 

viii. 58. 9 ; Eph. i. 23 ; 2 Tim. iv. 22. 

* John i. 10; Heb. i. 2. ,8 1 Tim. iii. 16. 

9 Col. i. 16. ,9 Matt viii. 3. 

10 Heb. i. .8; Col. i. 11. 

11 Heb. i. 6 ; Luke xxiv. 52 ; 1 Cor. i. 2 ; Phil. ii. 10 ; Rev. v. 8, 13 ; vii. 9. 10. 



246 FIRST THINGS. 

the winds and waves ; "Peace, he still ;" ' and to the dead : 
"/ say unto thee, arise ;" 2 and to the sinner : " Thy sins be 
forgiven thee." 3 

The Lord Jesus Christ is well called the " Word ; " i for 
in and through him alone we know all that we know of God 
and of the way of salvation : he is the only " way " to God. 
All the types ; all the sacrifices ; all the promises, in the 
Word of God, centre in him. Well might the heavenly 
host, at his advent, praise God ; saying, " Glory to God in 
the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 5 
Well might the angel say, " Behold, I bring you good tidings 
of great joy, which shall be to all people ! For unto you is 
born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ 
the Lord." 6 Well might the disciples be glad, when they 
saw their crucified Lord risen from the dead ! 7 Well might 
they worship him with great joy, after he was carried up 
into heaven while in the act of blessing them ! 8 Well may 
we rejoice ! The loving Jesus has entered into heaven with 
his human body ; has there all power ; is head over all 
things to his Church : is " the same yesterday, and to-day, 
and forever ; " 9 with all his human sympathies ; 10 with the 
same loving heart, that responded to every cry of distress 
that was made to him ; that wept with Mary and Martha at 
their brother's grave ; and that raised the widow's son. He 
is as willing now, as when on earth, to receive the most de- 
graded ; and to forgive even the chief of sinners ; and is 
" able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by 
him." " Well may the sheep of the King of kings " rejoice 
always !" I2 for " He gives them eternal life ; they shall never 
perish, neither shall any pluck them out of his hand." 13 

1 Mark iv. 39. 6 Luke ii. 10. 10 Heb. iv. 15 ; v. 2. 

2 Luke vii. 14. 7 John xx. 20. " Heb. vii. 25. 

3 Matt. ix. 2. 8 Luke xxiv. 51, 52. 12 Phil. iv. 4. 

4 John i. 1 . ° Heb. xiii. 8. I3 John x. 28. 
G Luke ii. 14. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

THE NEW KINGDOM — ITS WONDERFUL PROGRESS. 

THE resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the 
dead ; his repeated appearances to his disciples ; " his 
opening their understandings that they might understand 
the Scriptures, how it was written in Moses, and the proph- 
ets, and the Psalms, that it behooved Christ thus to suffer, 
and to rise from the dead on the third day ; " * and his as- 
cension before their eyes into heaven ; gave renewed confi- 
dence to his terror-stricken followers, who had been so 
sorely disappointed at his ignominious death, although he 
had repeatedly foretold to them that death, with all its at- 
tending circumstances. The scattered few began the assem- 
bling of themselves together in his name, in a retired room, 
with closed doors, for fear of the Jews. Thus did the 
kingdom, which was to overthrow all opposing kingdoms, 
commence its course. 

The new kingdom thus strangely founded, was as wonder- 
fully to make its way in the world. Opposed to the natural 
desires and inclinations of all men ; and intended to destroy 
the power of Satan, the god of this world ; it is not sur- 
prising, that, wherever it appeared, rulers and people at once 
rose up to prevent its progress. In Jerusalem persecutions 
immediately arose ; and the humble followers of the meek 
and lowly One were pursued even to strange cities, and 
taken to prison and to death. The new kingdom, however, 
strange to say, was extended by persecutions ; and kept ex- 
tending the more, as the world rose against it. Soon the 

1 Luke xxiv. 44-46. 

• (247) 



248 FIRST THINGS. 

whole power of the Roman empire, which then controlled 
the world, was repeatedly put forth to blot out all traces 
of it from the face of the earth. But, in three short cen- 
turies, we see this kingdom, its subjects gathered chiefly from 
the poor of this world, its adherents everywhere persecuted, 
yet making no resistance ; we see it obtain control of the 
great Roman empire, and counting even the emperor himself 
among its professed subjects. And since then it has been 
extending, until it has become acknowledged by the whole 
civilized world. 

To the eye of sense, no task could have been more hope- 
less, than that undertaken by the first followers of Jesus.. 
A few " unlearned and ignorant men," * are sent forth with . 
the command : " Go teach (or disciple) all nations." 2 They 
were directed to commence a crusade against " the lust of 
the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life " common 
to all men, and cherished by all ; a crusade to overturn the 
religions of the world ; they were to proclaim salvation by 
faith alone, in One, just put to death as a malefactor. They 
were to call men, everywhere, to forsake the faith of their 
fathers, to deny themselves, and to take up a cross ; to give 
up friends and all their worldly prospects ; to meet persecu- 
tions, and most probably to suffer a cruel death. They 
were sent forth, warned that they would meet all this them- 
selves. What a mission for a few friendless, uneducated 
men to undertake ! But they had the eye of faith. They 
knew whom they believed. They had his promise : " Lo, 
I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." 3 And 
they at once, fearless of all danger, and certain of success, 
went forth to conquer the world. 

The extension of this kingdom in the world has been a 
continual extraordinary manifestation of the presence and 
power of God : and its progress brings more clearly to view 
that Great Being, the glorious Third Person of the God- j 

1 Acts iv. 13. 2 Matt, xxviii. 19. 3 Matt, xxviii. 20. 



THE NEW KINGDOM. 249 

head, the Holy Ghost ; who is now, though everywhere 
present, manifesting himself particularly on earth ; person- 
ally gathering in the subjects of Christ's kingdom ; and, 
while extending that kingdom over the whole earth, is 
shaping the history of individuals, of nations, and of the 
world. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

THE HOLY GHOST — THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

IT is not surprising that the world, ignorant of God, 
should be ignorant of the Holy Ghost ; but it is a sad 
fact, that there is a deplorable ignorance in the Church, in 
regard to His person, and to His work. We are too apt to 
think of the Spirit as a mere influence. Till we realize the 
personality of the Holy Ghost, our ideas regarding Him 
must be confused and unsatisfactory. May He enlighten 
us, as we now turn our thoughts more especially to Him. 

We have already noticed the cooperation of the Holy 
Spirit, as one of the Godhead, in the work of creation. Be- 
fore the advent of Christ, it was He who imparted instruc- 
tion to the Church of God ; for we are told, " all scripture 
is given by inspiration of God ; " x and, " holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 The hu- 
man body of Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, was " conceived 
in her by the Holy Ghost." 3 He afterwards descended 
upon Jesus " in a bodily shape like a dove," 4 after his bap- 
tism. The Lord Jesus, when he was about to finish his work 
on earth, before leaving his disciples assured them that the 
" Father would send the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, to abide 
with them ; to teach them all things ; and to guide them 
into all truth." 5 He also directed them to baptize in the 
name of the Holy Ghost, as one of the glorious Trinity in 
Unity, in whose name the Church was to be gathered. 

If the Holy Ghost had not come down personally among 

1 2 Tim. iii. 16. 3 Matt i. 18, 20. 6 John xiv. 16, 26; xv. 26; 

3 2 Pet, i. 21. 4 Luke iii. 22. xvi. 1, 13. 

(250) 



THE HOLY GHOST. 251 

men, the kingdom of Christ would have disappeared from 
the earth when he and his immediate followers left it ; those 
sent forth to disciple all nations would never have made a 
single convert ; and we, never would have heard even the 
echoes of the " glad tidings of great joy. 7 ' There has not 
been a true subject brought into that kingdom since the as- 
cension of Christ, but by the direct agency and power of the 
Holy Ghost.' John expressly declares this when he says, 
that they " who believe that Jesus is the Christ are born of 
God ; " 2 " are the sons of God ; " 3 and " are born not of 
blood (that is, not by being born of members of the Church, 
though of Abraham himself 4 ), nor of the will of the flesh 
(that is, not because they have so willed it), nor of the will 
of man (that is, not by the power or acts of others), but of 
God." 5 " Verily, verily," said Jesus, " I say unto thee, ex- 
cept a man be born of water (that is, enter the visible Church 
by baptism), and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king- 
dom of God. Ye must be born again." 6 The subjects of 
this kingdom, thus begotten, not of themselves, but of the 
Holy Ghost, are spoken of, as having been raised from a 
state of previous death to life ; 7 as having had faith given 
to them ; 8 and as being created anew. 9 This new birth of 
the soul is spoken of, as the putting forth by God Almighty 
of " the exceeding greatness of his power, according to the 
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, 
when he raised him from the dead." 10 

The apostles were directed to wait in Jerusalem, until 
they received power, after that the Holy Ghost came upon 
them : u then, they were to be witnesses for Christ unto the 
uttermost parts of the earth. At the day of Pentecost, the 
Holy Ghost descended with " a sound from heaven as of a 

1 1 Cor. xii. 3. 6 John i. 12 ; vi. 65. ° Eph. ii. 10 ; Gal. vi. 15. 

2 1 John v. lr. 6 John iii. 5, 6, V. J0 Eph. i. 19. 

3 1 John iii. 1. T Eph. ii. 1,8. u Lukexxiv. 49 ; Actsi. 8. 

4 Rom. ix. 7 ; Luke iii. 8. e Eph. ii. 8. 



252 FIRST THINGS. 

rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where the 
waiting disciples were assembled. And there appeared 
cloven tongues as of fire, and it set upon each of them. And 
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." ' 
Thus filled with the Holy Ghost, the apostles began their 
mission to bring the world back to God, by preaching 
"Jesus Christ and him crucified." No wonder, now, that 
the new kingdom began to spread, in spite of all opposition, 
throughout the earth. The same day, in Jerusalem, the very 
place where, a few days previously, Jesus had been cruci- 
fied, under Peter's first sermon, " there were added unto 
them about three thousand souls." 2 And afterwards, " the 
Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved : " 3 
so that, in a few days, " the number of the men that believed 
was about five thousand." 4 

It is of great importance, that we should acknowledge 
the direct agency of the Holy Ghost in everything done in 
building up the spiritual Church of Christ. Not only is 
each member of that Church born of the Holy Ghost, but 
" the Spirit dwells in each," 5 making the body of every be- 
' liever " the temple of the Holy Ghost." 6 The Holy Ghost 
calls whom He will, and sends the Gospel to particular in- 
dividuals : " The Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join 
thyself to the chariot ; " in which the Ethiopian eunuch was 
reading the prophecy of Isaiah ; and then, after the conver- 
sion of the eunuch, " the Spirit caught away Philip, that the 
eunuch saw him no more." 7 Cornelius, although he was de- 
vout, prayerful and charitable, yet could not be saved ex- 
cepting through faith in Christ. His prayers and his alms 
came up as a memorial before God ; and the Spirit sent 
Peter to teach him the way to be saved. The Spirit said 

1 Acts ii. 1. 2 Acts ii. 41. 3 Acts ii. 4*7. 

4 Acts iv. 4. 6 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; Roin. viii. 11 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16. 

6 1 Cor. vi. 19. T Acts viii.. 29, 39. 



THE HOLY GHOST. 253 

to Peter, " Behold three men seek thee, go with them, for 
I have sent them." 1 It was on account of the personal 
presence of the Holy Ghost, that Peter told Ananias that 
Satan had filled his heart to lie to the Holy Ghost. 2 When 
the apostles and elders met in convention, the Holy Ghost 
directed them as to the decision which they made. 3 The 
elders of the different churches were made overseers or 
bishops of the flock committed to them, by the Holy Ghost.* 
In extending Christ's kingdom, the Holy Ghost selects mis- 
sionaries to do particular work, and sends them to such 
places as are fixed upon by himself. " The Holy Ghost said, 
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I 
have called them." " So they, being sent forth by the Holy 
Ghost, departed unto Seleucia." 5 Afterwards they were 
" forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia," 
and " they essayed to go in Bithynia : but the Spirit suffered 
them not." 6 And in addition to all this, the life and the 
spiritual growth of each member of the Church are through 
Him alone ; all the wisdom, knowledge, gifts, and graces, 
given to the individual members of the Church, " all these 
worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every 
man severally as he will." 7 Truly, the personal presence 
of the Holy Ghost, and his continued wonderful working, 
personally gathering the children of God, and personally 
building up Christ's kingdom, is neither realized, nor ac- 
knowledged, as it should be. 

There is also a lamentable ignorance, even in the church, 
of one of the principal characteristics of the Holy Ghost ; 
and that is love. Being made known to us as the Holy 
Spirit, we are too apt to fix our thoughts almost exclusively 
on His holiness : and to overlook His infinite condescension, 
and His wonderful love. We speak of the love of the Father, 

1 Acts x. 19, 20, 43, 44. '- Acts v. 3. 3 Acts xv. 4, 28. 

* Acts xx. 28. 5 Acts xiii. 2, 4. 

6 Acts xvi. 6, 1. 7 1 Cor. xii. 8, 11 ; Gal. v. 22. 



254 FIRST THINGS. 

and of the love of the Son ; but how little we realize the 
love of the Holy Ghost ! God is love. God the Holy Ghost 
is love. His names, " the Comforter," 1 " the Spirit of 
Grace," 2 " the Helper of our Infirmities," s " the Spirit of 
Adoption," i are names of love. The Scriptures, written by 
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, show His love : every call, 
every promise, every word of consolation and comfort, is 
from the Spirit's love : overflowing love, to the lost, the 
guilty, the wanderer, the backslider, the rebel : love without 
measure and without change. See this Holy Being coming 
down and dwelling with fallen man. See Him with infinite 
love striving against coldness, contempt, and hatred. Though 
year after year He is resisted, grieved, vexed, quenched, He 
does not forsake us, nor cease his efforts. He goes to the 
sinner, follows him, grieving in His holiness while witnessing 
his sins ; speaks to him, strives with him, draws him, awakens 
him, quickens him, opens his eyes and leads him to the blood 
of Jesus. Well may we exclaim : " Herein is love, not that 
we loved Him but that He loved us." 5 Then see this loving 
Holy Spirit after He has won the soul to Christ : see Him con- 
descending to take up His abode in it : see Him encountering 
resistance, coldness, doubts, and unbelief; and overcoming 
all with love unchangeable and unquenchable. Think then 
what the Holy Ghost does in each one whom by faith He 
has made a child of God. He leads him into all truth ; 6 He 
reveals the things of Christ ; 7 He sheds the love of God 
abroad in his heart ; 8 He mortifies corruption in him ; 9 He 
enables him to persevere, and keeps him in the faith ; ,0 He 
helps him in his prayers, the Spirit joining with him in the 
prayer and making intercession for him ; u He is in him, the 

1 John xiv. 16. 4 Rom. viii. 15 ; Gal. iv. 6. 7 John xvi. 14. 

2 Heb. x. 29. & 1 John iv. 10. b Rom. v. 5. 

3 Rom. viii. 26. 6 John xvi. 13. 9 Rom. viii. 13 

10 2 Tim. i. 14; 1 Pet. i. 5. " Rom. viii. 26. 



THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 255 

Spirit of adoption, to address God, Abba, Father ; ' and He 
fills him with joy. 2 What amazing love ! 

At the gatherings of the subjects of the kingdom, the 
ministers of Christ are directed to bless the people in His 
name. 3 A part of that great benediction, and not the least 
important part of it, is, " The communion of the Holy Ghost 
be with you all." 4 Who can estimate the blessings flowing 
from that communion ? Children of that kingdom, part of 
which is "joy in the Holy Ghost ;" 8 hold constant communion 
with the loving Spirit who dwells in you : and " grieve not 
the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day 
of redemption." 6 

And ye who have not yet acknowledged the Lord Jesus 
Christ the King of kings, as your king and your Saviour^ 
how long will ye " resist the Holy Ghost ? " 7 How long 
will ye continue " to tread under foot the Son of God, and 
count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing and do 
despite unto the Spirit of Grace ?" 8 How long will ye 
run the risk of being for eternity outcasts from the kingdom 
of God ? There is one sin which is spoken of as unpardon- 
able. God hath said, " My Spirit shall not always strive 
with man." Beware of blaspheming against the Holy 
Ghost ; of treating Him as an unclean Spirit : for so long 
as you speak against Him, you will never be forgiven, 
neither in this world, neither in the world to come. 10 Does 
He still work in your conscience and in your heart, urging 
you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ? there is, then, yet 
hope : seek His guidance ; and at once join that great king- 
dom which is overspreading the earth and filling Heaven. 

1 Rom. viii. 15. 4 2 Cor. xiii. 14. T Acts vii. 51. 

2 1 Thess. i. 6. 6 Rom. xiv. 17. 8 Heb. x. 29. 

3 Deut. x. 8. 6 Eph. iv. 30. 9 Gen. vi. 3. 

10 Mark iii. 29; Matt. xii. 32; Luke xii. 10. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

FIRST THINGS IN THE VISIBLE CHURCH UNDER THE NEW DIS- 
PENSATION—INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS — CHILDREN AND 
HOUSEHOLDS, MEMBERS — THE LORD'S SUPPER — MODE OF 
BAPTISM — 'NEW SABBATH — FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONS — NEW 
WAY TO GOD — NEW PRIESTS — CHURCHES — FIRST SAVED — 
FIRST ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN — CONCLUSION. 

4 (* f^\ OD created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent 
\JC that now unto the principalities and powers in 
heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold 
(or greatly diversified) wisdom of God." 1 The true church 
of Christ being spiritual, is invisible : and the real members 
of that church are only those who are born again of the 
Holy Ghost. The church of Christ has, however, always 
had a visible organization on the earth. This was requisite 
for its preservation and edification. In it the line of the 
Messiah was to be preserved according to prophecy, till, he 
came. The church was also to be in all ages " the pillar 
and ground of the truth." 2 Apostles, prophets, evangelists, 
pastors, and teachers, were given to it for the perfecting of 
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of 
the body of Christ." 3 It required elders, who, as rulers and 
bishops, should keep its members pure in morals, and from 
being led astray by false teachers. 4 The visible church 
differs from the invisible in that it has always had members 

1 Eph. iii. 10, 21 ; 1 Peter i. 12. " 1 Tim. iii. 15. 

3 Eph iv. 11, 12; 1 Cor. xii. 28. 

4 1 Cor. v. 7, 11, 13 ; Acts xx. 28, 30; Titus i. 5. 

(2561 



THE NEW DISPENSATION. 257 

who were only such outwardly : " for they are not all Israel 
which are of Israel." 1 

We have already noticed that all the forms of worship in 
the visible church have, from the beginning, been ordained 
by the Head of the church ; every other worship being in 
vain. 2 The types used in the ancient forms of worship hav- 
ing been consummated by the death of Christ, 3 the Lord 
Jesus, under the gospel dispensation, introduced new forms 
of admission, and terms of membership into his church. 
These, however, correspond with the old. Under the an- 
cient covenant, those desiring to become members of the 
church were to be circumcised, 4 and to take the passover : 6 
and then, if they did not continue to take the passover, they 
were to be cut off from the church. Both of these forms 
were done away with at the death of Christ : " Christ our 
passover being then sacrificed for us ; " 7 baptism 8 and the 
Lord's Supper, 9 were substituted by him in their place, and 
they are now the public forms of admission and of continued 
membership in the visible kingdom of Christ; therefore, 
only those who are baptized, and who continue to take the 
Lord's Supper are members of the visible church. 

The most significant feature in the mode of worship in the 
ancient church, and the most important, was the sacrifices ; 
all pointing to the atonement to be made by the Lord Jesus 
Christ. These were all done away with when " Christ was 
once offered to bear the sins of many :" 1B " for by one offer- 
ing he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." " 
Just before he was offered he joined in the last passover- 
feast, and told his disciples that it was about to be " fulfilled 
in the kingdom of God." 12 He then instituted the Lord's 

1 Rom. ix. 6, 1 ; Rev. ii. 9. 7 1 Cor. v. 1. 

- Mark vii. 1 ; Deut. xii. 32. 8 Matt, xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 16. 

3 Heb. ix. 11 ; x. 1. 9 Luke xxii. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 23. 

4 Gen. xvii. 10 ; Acts vii. 8. I0 Heb. ix. 28. 
s Exod. xii. 43-48. " Heb. x. 14. 

c Exod. xii. 19; Numb. ix. 13. 12 Luke xxii. 16. 

17 



258 FIRST THINGS. 

Supper : the eating of the broken bread and the drinking 
of poured out wine, both to be partaken of by all believers, 
as memorials of his body broken for them, and of his blood 
shed for them. 1 Since his death this has been the great feast 
of the Christian church, and it will be continued to the end 
of the world, showing forth " the Lord's death till he come." 2 
From creation, the children of God's people have al- 
ways been included in the covenants which God made 
with their parents. It was thus with the covenants made 
with Adam, with Noah, Abraham, Jacob, the children 
of Israel, David, etc. 3 In all ages, whoever joined the 
visible church and thus entered into an open covenant with 
God and his people, brought his whole household into the 
church with him. Under the ancient testament or covenant, 
his children and his slaves were to be circumcised ; and 
then they might partake of the passover : * the whole house- 
hold thus at once became members of the visible church ; 
entitled to its privileges, to its care and its discipline. 
Under the new covenant, likewise, the believer brought his 
household with himself into the visible church. Thus we 
see Lydia was baptized and her household; " 5 the jailor " was 
baptized, he and all his, straightway ; " 6 and also " the house- 
hold of Stephanas." 7 The children of believers are spoken 
of as " holy ; 8 that is, sanctified by covenant to the Lord : 
they are therefore to be trained " in the nurture and admo- 
nition of the Lord," 9 as already in him. Children are also 
expressly addressed as members of the church, and special 
instructions are given to them as being in covenant with 
God. 10 The Christian parent, therefore, who does not thus 

1 Matt. xxvi. 27 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 25 ; e Acts xvi. 33. 

Luke xxii. 19. 7 1 Cor. i. 16. 

Q 1 Cor. xi. 26. 8 1 Cor. vii. 14. 

3 Gen. ii. 17 ; ix. 1 ; xvii. 7 ; ° Eph. vi. 4. 

1 Chron. xvii. 13, 23, etc. 10 Eph. i. 1 ; vi. 1-4; Col. i. 2; iii. 

4 Gen. xvii. 12; Exod. xii. 44, 48. 20; Gen. xvii. 7,14: Acts ii. 
6 Acts xvi. 15. 38, 39. 



INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS — BAPTISM. 259 

consecrate his child and his household to God by baptism, 
not only breaks the covenant God has made with him ; but 
he also robs his child and his household of the benefits 
of the covenant, and of their privilege of church member- 
ship. 

The mode of baptism by which subjects are publicly ad- 
mitted into the visible kingdom of Christ on earth, is worthy 
of consideration. How this is to be performed is not speci- 
fically mentioned. Some persons, thinking that John the 
Baptist baptized by immersion, and also that the Ethiopian 
eunuch was baptized the same way, which may or may not 
be the fact, make that mode of baptism a test of church- 
membership : and thus not only separate themselves from the 
mass of the body of Christ, but also cut off their own chil- 
dren from the benefit of that covenant, which, as we have 
before noticed, God has made, from the beginning, with be- 
lievers and their children. Whatever way John baptized, 
one thing is certain, his baptism was not Christian baptism. 
His was expressly a " baptism of repentance :" ] and it was 
necessary that they who were baptized by him, when they 
became Christians, should be baptized again. 2 The thou- 
sands converted and baptized in Jerusalem immediately 
after the crucifixion, could not have been immersed, even had 
there been sufficient water ; the authorities would not have 
allowed it. In baptism the person is not applied to the 
water, but the water to the person. 3 The common mode of 
applying water in baptism in all ages of the Christian church, 
has been by sprinkling. Thanks be to God ! the new king- 
dom, which is to extend over the whole earth, does not shut 
out them who dwell in the polar regions, or in deserts, or 
where water cannot be obtained to immerse them : it does 
not shut out the dying, or those too sick to be immersed ; 
and above all, it still includes the children of His people. 
Under the old dispensation, the blood of the sacrifice was 

1 Acts xix. 4; Matt. iii. 11. 2 Acts xix. 3, 5. 3 Acts x. 47. 



260 FIKST THINGS. 

applied by sprinkling : l it is the same under the new ; Peter 
addresses Christians as, ' ; Elect unto obedience and sprink- 
ling of the blood of Christ." 2 The baptism with the Holy 
Ghost is frequently spoken of. 3 The mode of that baptism 
is very clearly and expressly stated : the Holy Ghost is 
poured out upon them : 4 the Holy Ghost falls upon them. 5 

The Sabbath being made for man, 6 the day was changed 
to accord with the new dispensation. The first Sabbath 
succeeded the finished work of creation ; the new Sabbath, 
or Lord's day, the finished work of redemption. The first 
Sabbath was the first day of Adam's life after his creation ; 
the new Sabbath was the first day of the Church's life ; she 
having risen in Christ, her head. On the first day of the 
week the disciples assembled themselves together to com- 
memorate the Lord's Supper and to hear preaching ; 7 and 
on that day, again and again, Jesus met with them. 8 John 
" was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." 9 And the subjects 
of the great King are directed, " every one of them," as a 
part of their religious worship, on the first day of the week, 
to consecrate a portion of their property, according as the 
Lord has prospered them. 10 

Another new thing in the Church was the work of Foreign 
Missions. The sending forth of ambassadors for Christ " to 
go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
ture," u and " beseech men to be reconciled to God." 12 Be- 
fore this the knowledge of the way of salvation was confined 
to the land of Israel alone. 

One of the most remarkable events of this period was the 
opening of all parts of the world to the special manifesta- 
tions of the presence of God. Previously, He had, although 

1 Heb. ix. 21 ; Ex. xxix. 20 ; Lev. xvi. 14, 19. T Acts xx. 1. 

2 1 Pet i. 2 ; Heb. xii. 24. B John xx. 19, 26. 

3 Acts i. 5 ; Mark i. 8. 9 Rev. i. 10. 

4 Acts ii. 3, 18 ; x. 45. 10 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 
6 Acts xi. 15, 16 ; xix. 6. " Mark xvi. 15. 
6 Mark ii. 27. ,2 2 Cor v. 2.0. 



NEW WAY TO GOD — NEW PRIESTS. 261 

everywhere present, chosen one particular spot where He 
revealed himself, and where only He was to be approached. 
God came down visibly on Mount Sinai ; and went into the 
Tabernacle ; and dwelt in it during all the journeys of the 
children of Israel in the wilderness : He then took up his 
abode with the ark of the covenant within the most holy 
place in the Temple at Jerusalem. There only could he be 
approached ; and there only could offerings be made to Him. 
According to His law, " three times in the year all the males 
in Israel were required to go to that place and to present 
themselves before the Lord God, the God of Israel." s Even 
there, the sinner could only approach God through an aton- 
ing sacrifice, the blood of which was to be presented to God 
by the High Priest. A new way to God was opened to 
all the world by the Lord Jesus Christ, at once the victim 
and the priest ; the magnificent temple with all its gorgeous 
service, the sacrifice of atonement, and the high priest, 
which were types of Christ, were done away with : 2 and 
thenceforth men could have free access to God through the 
Lord Jesus Christ in any part of the world : having the 
special promises of the Lord Jesus, " where two or three are 
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of 
them ;" 3 and, " if ye shall ask anything in my name, I will 
doit." 4 

The Lord Jesus having entered into heaven not only as 
king, but as the High Priest of his church ; 5 the special 
order of Priests was abolished : and now every Christian is 
a priest. 6 

The Church, or visible kingdom of Christ, continued to 
assemble in all places where disciples could be gathered to 
hold public worship ) meetings for prayer and singing, in 

1 Exod. xxiii. 17; xxxiv. 23, 21. 

2 Heb. vii 11 ; viii. 1, 5; ix. 8, 0, 14, 23, 24; x. 19, 22. 

3 Matt, xviii. 20 4 John xiv. 14. 5 Heb. ix. 24; vii. 25. 
6 1 Peter ii. 9; Isaiah lxi. (i ; Itev. i. 6; R.oru. xii. 1 ; Rev. xx. 6. 



262 FIRST THINGS. 

which all Christians joined, to edify one another and to re- 
ceive instruction out of the word of God. 1 These services 
corresponded with that of the Synagogue under the old dis- 
pensation : 2 and like the synagogue, each church was gov- 
erned by a number of elders, who were the overseers or 
bishops : 3 and had deacons also, whose special office was to 
have the charge of the poor of Christ's flock/ 

The term "church" for some centuries after the Chris- 
tian era, was not applied to the buildings where Christians 
met ; but to the elect of God, or to particular congregations 
of believers wherever they met, even if in a private house. 5 

The mode of worship of the early Christians was exceed- 
ingly simple : but it had the characteristic of being " in 
Spirit and in truth." As the kingdom of Christ made pro- 
gress, Christianity became fashionable : the world joined the 
church ; cathedral service and gorgeous ceremonial forms 
took the place of worship and of the meeting for prayer and 
mutual edification ; preachers preached anything but " Christ 
and him crucified •" and the awful crime, now so common in 
many churches, was introduced, of hiring opera singers, or of 
allowing persons not Christians to mock God with pretended 
worship, to lie unto the Holy Ghost, and to sing what on 
their part is blasphemy. 

The circumstances connected with the conversion of the 
first one converted and saved after the crucifixion, are wor- 
thy of consideration. They show, that however important 
the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are to the 
perpetuity and edification of the Church, believers may be 
saved without them. We see a vile criminal who, according 
to his own confession deserved death, while suffering the 
penalty due to his crimes and just before his death, suddenly 

1 Matt. xxvi. SO; Col. iii. 16 ; Eph. v. 19 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 26. 

2 Acts xiii. 1 5 ; Luke iv. 1 6. 

3 Titus i. 5, 7 ; Acts xiv. 23; xv. 4 ; xx. 17, 28. 4 Acts' vi. 3. 

5 Rom. xvi. 5 ; I Cor. xiv. 23 ; xvi. 19. 



FIRST ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN. 263 

ceasing his blasphemies, acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ 
and praying to Him. We also see him at once accepted, 
and immediately taken to heaven. 1 He was not only saved, 
but he was at once assured of his salvation ; without going 
through a long previous conflict of agonizing doubts and 
fears before coming to Christ and receiving Him and his 
salvation — without being baptized — or confirmed — or taking 
the communion — without subsequent misgivings — and with- 
out doing any good works. He was saved simply, and in- 
stantaneously, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also 
worthy of notice that while he was saved by grace, his dying 
companion, having the Saviour just as near, and having ap- 
parently equal advantages, was lost. 

The Lord's answer to the dying thief, " Yerily I say unto 
thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise," 2 shows 
that believers at death go immediately to heaven. He had 
previously told Nicodemus that He was in heaven, even 
while on earth. 3 The Saviour ascended afterwards bodily 
into heaven. 4 Stephen while dying saw the heavens opened : 
and seeing Jesus there he commended his spirit into his 
hands. 6 Paul tells us " to be absent from the body is to be 
present with the Lord ;" 6 and he said " he had a desire to 
depart and to be with Christ." 7 He also tells us that, 
" Them who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" at the 
last great day. 8 Till that day part of the one great family 
of Christ are on earth, and part are in heaven. 9 

The time foretold in prophecy appears to be at hand, when 
we shall hear the great proclamation, " The kingdoms of this 
world have become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his 
Christ." 10 We see a shaking among the nations. The day 
of the Millennium, when Satan is to be bound a thousand 

1 Mark xv. 32 ; Luke ' John iii. 13. 6 2 Cor. t. 8. 

xxiii. 41. 43. 4 Acts i. 11. 7 Phil. i. 23. 

2 Luke xxiii. 43. 5 Acts. vii. 56. * 1 Thess. iv. 14. 

9 Eph. iii. 15. 10 Rev. xi. 15. 



264 FIRST THINGS. 

years, is dawning. When that is ended, " the day of the Lord 
will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that 
are therein shall be burned up." 

Connecting thus the end of history with its beginning, 
let us acknowledge Him who is directing and shaping that 
history in accordance with His word : we will then with 
joyful hope be " looking for and hasting unto the coming of 
the day of God ;" l and join the people of God in saying, 
" Even so come quickly Lord Jesus." 2 

1 2 Peter iii. 10, 12. a Rev. xxii. 20. 







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